A Dragon Born
by HoneyFlower15
Summary: It is A Dragon's Eye part two! Ryu is finally born so we can see Natsu and Lucy during their times as new parents. Nalu
1. Chapter 1

Lucy groaned when she felt that she could finally move away from the toilet. It's been a little over three weeks since she and Natsu got together and so far she wasn't enjoying much. She's been running to the bathroom every time after she eats a meal to throw it back up. It didn't help that all she had a taste for was hot and spicy foods so that just made her heart burn and gave her horrible indigestion. Currently she was puking the dinner she made last night into the toilet at seven in the morning and it annoyed her beyond belief. "Urgh, I can't believe I have to suffer through this for the next nine months." she wasn't even a whole month pregnant yet and already she was hating the evil symptoms that come with having a baby. She didn't regret getting pregnant, she could never regret having a child. She just wished that having one didn't have to come with so many after effects. She would like to at least keep one meal down without throwing it back up an hour later.

"You feeling better?" Natsu suddenly appeared behind her, rubbing her back with one hand and giving her a cool glass of water with his other hand. Ever since she got pregnant he has never left her side. The only time she has ever has any alone time was when she was using the bathroom to relieve herself. He wouldn't even let her take a bath by herself anymore because he was worried she would slip on soap and crack her head open or some other weird theory he had come up with. He had been making up a lot of weird ways for her to get hurt or die ever since she got pregnant. It was pretty strange for a guy who takes such dangerous risks when he goes on missions to be so overly protective and careful with her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she gulped down the water and smiled as the cool liquid eased her burning throat. "Sorry, did I wake you?" she felt so bad that she kept waking him up early in the morning with the disturbing sounds of her throwing up. She was sure he must have dreamt up better things to wake up too.

Natsu only shook his head and wrapped his arms around her body. "I don't mind," he ran his fingers through her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. "How can I? We're having a baby, there's no way I could be mad about that." his smile made her feel a hundred times better. One of the best things about getting pregnant was getting to see a whole new side of Natsu. She saw the mature grownup loving side of him that no one else has ever seen before. It was a nice sight to take in and she felt so special that he only showed her this side of him.

"Come on," Suddenly Natsu picked her up and carried her back into the bedroom. They were currently staying in her apartment until the guys finished the expansion on his house. They decided her apartment was too small to raise a child and his house barely fit him and her in it together, so he got the guys to help remodel his house and make it bigger. They would add on an extra floor and add new rooms for them to put the baby, themselves, and any other future children that they might have. "Let's get dressed and head to the Guild. I wanna see what ideas everyone has come up with for our house." he set her down on the bed and went to grab them both clothes to wear.

Lucy had to admit that she was surprised that he wore different clothes when he slept. She just assumed her wore the same thing all the time. That or slept naked.

"Natsu sure is being careful with you." Happy flew next to her and sat down. He had joined them in sleeping in her apartment and usually made a little bed for himself in her laundry basket. This made doing her laundry a lot more complicated because she had cat fur over most of her clothes but she didn't let it bother her.

"Yeah, he really is." Lucy agreed with the blue cat and let out a long sigh, watching the pink-haired man grabbing clothes for them both out of her closet. When she said he moved in she really meant it. He brought over almost everything that was in his house and what he couldn't fit in her apartment he kept it at the Guild. "Has he ever acted like this before?" she asked Happy in a low whisper.

The blue Exceed shook his head. "Not that I've ever seen. I know Lisanna said he took good care of me when I was in my egg but I don't think it was to this extent." he explained as they watched him looked through all her outfits, trying to decide what was a good choice to wear. He had burnt all things he deemed too tight for her to wear, for fear it would hurt the baby and that left her with limited clothing.

"Is that so?" she placed her chin in her hands and watched as he continued to look through her closet. She really needed to go shopping for new clothes soon. Not only was she limited on outfits to wear but she needed to pick up some new clothes for when her stomach would expand and grow in size. She had no maturity clothes and they hadn't picked out anything for the baby either so they really needed to get her some _maternity dresses, along with clothes, toys, and other supplies for the baby. _

"Lucy," he called to her, handing her the outfit he had picked for her. It was the outfit she had worn when she first met the fire mage and it was one of few outfits that he hadn't burned on her. "Hurry and get dressed. Once you're done we can head to the Guild." He was dressed now himself, wearing his new style of clothing that Mira had gotten for him. A black and gold jacket that covered only his left arm. His right arm left exposed so that his mark could be seen. White pants as usual covered his lower half, black scandals still were worn on his feet. As always he had the scarf that Igneel had given to him wrapped securely around his neck.

Hesitantly she took the clothes he gave her. It wasn't that she wasn't unhappy about going to see her friends but ever since she got pregnant Natsu has been so protective of her that he ended up carrying her to the Guild more than once.

"Alright but this time you're not carrying me all the way to the Guild. People kept staring last time." she mumbled, taking the clothes and moved away from the window to change.

Natsu only nodded. "Ok, I promise." he gave her a toothy grin.

She returned this with a bright smile and began to change. _"Maybe I don't have to worry so much about him overreacting." _

* * *

><p><em>"I was wrong!" <em>Lucy hung her head in embarrassment as she was flown through the streets of Magnolia. Happy carrying her the whole way and Natsu walking right next to them. She was floating barely two feet off the ground and everyone kept staring. _"This is so embarrassing." _she really wished for something to swallow her up and get her out of this situation.

"We're here!" Natsu kicked open the doors and jumped inside, a wide grin on his face. Lucy was just glad to be inside and away from the stares of onlookers.

"Natsu," Lisanna was the first to greet them. "Why is Happy carrying Lucy?" she asked, pointing to the blue cat and the blonde.

Natsu only smiled back. "That's cause Lucy is pregnant and she shouldn't be walking around. She needs to rest." his explanation made everyone look at him weird.

"Say what?" Gray raised an eyebrow and watched as the fire mage guided the Exceed over to an empty table before telling him to place Lucy down on the wooden bench. "I'll be right back with some food." he informed her and ran to the bar, Happy following closely behind as both started asking Mira to prepare some food for them.

Lucy just waved him off. She was to embarrassed to do anything more. "Um...Lu-Chan?" Levy sat down across from her and gave her a confused look. "Natsu does know that the baby is only a few weeks old? You still have time to move around freely before you really need help."

Lucy nodded. "I know, but try explaining that to him." she frowned and gestured over to the pink-haired mage that was chatting happily with Mira. "He doesn't even let me take a bath by myself anymore because he's scared I'll drown and die." she rolled her eyes and let out a long sigh, resting her cheek in her hand.

"Is that so?" Soon they were joined by Lisanna, Cana, Erza, and Juvia. "It would appear that Natsu is very protective of you." Erza commented with a small smile.

"Yeah, but there is a limit you know." Cana replied, taking a sip of her drink.

"Perhaps if we talk with him then he'll calm down." Juvia suggested.

Lisanna only laughed and waved off that idea. "Obviously you don't know how Natsu thinks." she knew that once he makes up his mind it's almost impossible to change it.

Lucy just groaned and laid her head down on the table. "I don't even want to know what he'll be like when I'm huge." she could already imagine how he would act like when her stomach was as big as a blimp and she couldn't do the most basic chore.

"Well at least you have a lot of time to think about the baby." Levy reminded her of the little infant inside of her.

Lucy scoffed. "All I can think about is how I have nothing ready. Natsu won't let me go out shopping. I have no maternity clothes and I have nothing for the baby." she groaned, her mind already spinning with thoughts of the things they didn't have.

The girls stared in shock. "You haven't gotten a single thing?" Lisanna couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Lucy shook her head. "Natsu says he doesn't want me to tire myself out and he's too busy focusing on the guys building the house that he never goes shopping. I've told him that I'll go but he refuses to let me go alone."

"Lucy!" they all jumped in their seats at his voice. "I got the food!" he grinned brightly, setting the food down in front of her and suddenly Lucy lost all focus on what they were talking about before. Her attention was only on the spice hot food that was sitting directly before her. Her hand gripped the fork and started digging in, ignoring everything around her.

Natsu couldn't help but grin as he watched his wife eat some of his favorite foods. "So what are you guys talking about?" he asked the girls because he knew that Lucy wouldn't answer him. Once she had food in front of her that was all she focused on until there was nothing left on the plate. Happy flew over to the table with a fish in his mouth and started eating as well, ignoring everything just like Lucy and only focusing on his delicious fish.

The girls looked away from the fire mage's gaze when he questioned them. "Nothing." they quickly scattered from the table before he could question them more. They all had a plan in their head and if they stayed by Natsu for too long then it would be ruined before it even started.

Natsu watched them go and wondered why they were acting so weird. "Whatever." he didn't let it bother him. Instead he laid his head down on Lucy's lap, face pressed into her stomach so he could get a better smell of his child. He loved smelling their mixed scents together. Usually there would have only a small portion of his scent on her that would last for a few days before disappearing. That was why he would always be going over and sleeping in her bed, he wanted his scent to stay on her just like he wanted her scent to stay with him. Now his scent was permanently mixed in with hers and there was an extra bonus now. He could smell not only their scents together but now there was more. He couldn't get enough of it. The scent of ash mixed in with spring and a new scent that smelled of fire and a spring field. The addicting aromas made his heart burn with passion, making him want to do every magical spell known to man but they also calmed him, making him want to do nothing more than just stay there forever. Soon enough the scents of his child and wife made his body go numb and his mind relax. He was asleep within seconds.

While the newly formed Dragon family was relaxing happily in their own little world the group of girls all gathered around the bar to discuss a few important matters. "What? Lucy and Natsu don't have anything for the baby?" Mira gasped in shock. Her sister and friends had told her what they had just learned and she was truly shocked by it.

Levy nodded to the white-haired woman. "It seems that Natsu is too busy focusing on the house that he never goes shopping,"

Cana scoffed, "Not that the guy would even know what to get." she said, gulping down her mug of alcohol.

"Lucy has said she'll go shopping but Natsu refuses to let her go alone." Lisanna continued, explaining to her sister what the issue was.

Mira took in everything she had been told and thought carefully about what they could do about it. "If Natsu won't let her go alone then we'll just have to make sure that she isn't alone." she had a gleam in her eyes that told everyone that she had a plan.

"What are you thinking of doing, Mira-nee?" Lisanna asked, eager to learn this plan.

Mira only shook her head and walked out from behind the bar. "Just be ready by the door," she informed the group. "Erza, come with me. I'll need your help." she called to the red-haired woman that followed without question.

"What do you suppose they're doing?" Juvia asked, watching the two mages head towards the table of Lucy and Natsu.

Cana only shook her head. "It's better to not ask any questions when it comes to stuff like this." she informed the water mage as the four girls headed for the door to wait and see what Mira had planned.

When she did see the girls ready Mira put her plan into action. "Lucy?" she called sweetly to the blonde who had just finished eating the meal Natsu had brought her. "How are you feeling?" she kept a sweet smile on her face, making sure to keep things as peaceful and calm as possible before the real fight started. "Is everything to your liking?"

Lucy nodded happily. "The food was delicious, Mira." she licked her lips, still tasting the wonderful food she had just finished.

Mira sent Erza a silent look, telling her to get ready. "Thank you. I'm glad you liked it but I'm betting you're still hungry?" she moved closer to the spot where her friend sat, hands getting ready to do what they needed to do.

Lucy thought this over and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am." she could go for another plate or four of some of Mira's cooking.

"Perhaps some ice cream would help?" Mira suggested. "Or even some cake and pastry. I'm sure you must want other things beside spicy foods." she turned to Erza, telling her to help her out.

"It would probably be better for the baby if your tried different foods," Erza crossed her arms and suddenly her eyes started to shine. "Besides if you eat to many spicy food it can give you horrible heart burn so I suggest we go to the pastry shop and get some strawberry cake for you and the child." she coughed, trying not to make it obvious that it was she who really wanted the cake.

The spirit mage looked at both her friends and gave another nod. "Actually that does sound really good." Lucy could already picture the yummy cakes and ice creams that she would love to eat. It had been a while since she had any of those types of food and at the mention of them had her craving them like mad.

"Great," Mira pulled her by the arms and started to drag her out of the bench. "Then let's get going."

"What?" Lucy was beyond confused. One moment her friend was talking about food and now she was being pulled by her arms to go with them. What the hell was happening?

Natsu feeling Lucy suddenly move woke up and noticed what Mira was trying to do. "Mira, what the hell?" he wrapped his arms around Lucy's upper half and pulled her back. "What are you doing to Lucy?" he all but growled at the older woman. He was not pleased to what he woke up too.

Mira merely smiled at the pink-haired mage. "The girls and I are just going to take Lucy to get some ice cream and maybe get some shopping done for her and the baby," she grabbed the blonde's hand to pull her back but Natsu kept a firm hold on her. "I'm sure you can't argue with the fact that we just want to get Lucy some food and supplies for her and the baby." she pulled harder, making Natsu dig his feet into the ground so they wouldn't be moved.

Natsu shook his head and pulled back. "I don't want Lucy tiring herself out. Besides I'm the man and it's my duty to take care of her and the baby!" he cried out, trying his hardest to keep from being moved but Mira was somehow pulling them both out of the bench.

"But Lucy will be with us so she won't be in any danger and if it makes you feel any better we'll bring Wendy along to heal her just in case." Mira motioned over to her sister to grab the young wind mage. Lisanna nodded and went to gather the young girl and her cat companion.

Natsu groaned as he tried to pull Lucy back but Mira had them up on their feet and was slowly pulling them towards the door. "I said no! Lucy is staying with me." he cried, digging his feet back into the ground to stop her but it wasn't working as well as he hoped.

"I told you she'll be just fine so let go!" Mira yelled at him. She had used up a lot of her power to just get Lucy away from the table but now she was starting to have a hard time keeping up.

Natsu shook his head. "No, you let go! She's my wife!" he cried back, keeping his arms wrapped tightly around Lucy's upper half. He wouldn't let her go until Mira finally gave up.

Lucy could only cry quietly as she was pulled back and forth between her husband and good friend. "They do realize that I'm not some stuffed toy?" she mumbled to herself, wishing one of them would give up already.

Mira knew with her strength now failing she had only one option left. "Erza!" she called to the scarlet woman who nodded and acted quickly.

Before anyone could even blink Erza had punch Natsu in the face and sent him flying back into the table. His grip on Lucy was finally released and Mira took this opportunity to bring her over to the doors and kept her among the group of girls.

Natsu groaned, holding one hand to his swollen face and glared. "Erza, what the hell?" he growled, jumping to his feet and was ready to fight.

"Natsu," Erza stood before him, hands on her hips and a deadly serious look on her face that had the whole Guild shaking in fear. "You will remain here while we take Lucy out around town. We will take her to get food and supplies for her and the baby and you will not follow us nor try to interrupt us. Is that clear?" her eyes glowed a bright red, telling him there was no other option for him.

Natsu gulped and shook in fear. Erza still scared the hell out of him but he couldn't just let Lucy go without a fight. "B-B-But...!"

"Is that clear!" this time Erza growled and it made everyone in the Guild back up against the walls in fear.

Natsu shook his head franticly. "A-A-A-Aye." he was too scared to say anything else.

Erza smiled and suddenly everyone could breathe again. "Very good," she turned her back to him and headed for her group of friends by the door. "We will see you in a few hours." she waved him off and lead Lucy and the girls out of the Guild and into town to do some shopping.

Natsu watched as the group walked away with Lucy and let out an annoyed groan. "Stupid Erza," he sat crossed leg on the floor and glared at the empty doors. "Who the hell does she think she is?" he grumbled, legs starting to twitch.

Happy flew over to his best friend and gave him a questioning look. "Natsu, are you ok?" he asked in concern.

Natsu gave a slow nod. "Yeah, I'm fine. I mean Lucy is with Erza and Mira and the rest of the girls. They're just going shopping. Nothing bad can happen." he said with a smile on his face, having complete faith in his friends.

_5 Seconds Later_

"Let me go! I gotta go rescue Lucy!" Natsu cried as he was held back by Gray, Gajeel, Elfman, Macao, Wakaba, and Happy.

"Would you just knock it off!" Gray cried, hitting the frantic mage in the head in hopes of knocking him out and restoring peace back to their Guild.

Natsu however only fought back even harder. "I need to get Lucy back! She needs me there to protect her!" he screamed, fighting against all his so-called friends. He entire body was moving like mad as he tried to break free but whenever he seemed like he could slip away their grips would increase.

"Stupid, she isn't in danger." Gajeel groaned, annoyed that he had to waste his time on this.

"Natsu just calm down. The girls won't let anything happen to Lucy." Wakaba said in hopes that it would calm him down.

"They wouldn't let anything happen to her and Wendy is there to heal her. She's perfectly safe." Macao said, trying his hardest to pull the fire mage back. He hoped the girls returned soon before their Guild got destroyed again.

"I don't care! I gotta got to Lucy!" Natsu only yelled back. His mind was made up. Lucy would only be safe if she was by his side and if she wasn't then that meant she was in danger.

"He's really fighting against us," Elfman commented, both his arms transformed to help keep Natsu from running after the girls. "This is truly a man's fight!" he started to cry.

"Would you knock that off!" Gray yelled, kicking the crying man in the face.

"Well this turned sour fast." Makarov commented from his spot at the bar. He was watching as the others all head back a frantic Natsu who looked ready to explode at any moment. "All of you, move away from Natsu for a moment." he called to the group of guys that were holding back the screaming mage. At their master's orders they let go of Natsu would tried to make a break for it out the doors and track down Lucy but before he could even move forward he was smashed into the ground by Makarov's giant arm, knocking him out cold. "There, that should keep him calm until the girls return." he said with a pleased grin.

"Don't you think that was a little too harsh?" Macao asked.

"Yeah, it looks like you killed him." Wakaba added.

Makarov shook his head. "Nonsense, he's only sleeping."

"If you say so." the two grown man weren't going to argue with their master.

"Man, that was a total pain," Gray let out a sigh as he took a seat at the bar. "Why'd he act so crazy, anyways? Lucy has gone off on her own before." he didn't understand why the fire mage had freaked out so badly.

"Do you think it's because she's pregnant and he's concerned for the safety of their child?" Elfman suggested, his arms changing back to their normal form.

"Doubt it," Gajeel snorted, arms crossed as he looked down at the unconscious mage. "I'll admit that Dragon Slayers are very protective of their mates, and when the mate is pregnant that protective instinct doubles but I've never heard of anyone acting this bad." he frowned. He understood why Natsu acted so protective of Lucy but he didn't get why he freaked out so much. She just went shopping and in a group filled with some of their strongest fighters, it's not like she was alone walking in a dangerous area where something could happen to her.

"It's not really that shocking when you think about it," Makarov said, taking a sip of his drink and let out a content sigh. His eyes went to the fallen form of Natsu and he gave a small smile. "Family has been very important to Natsu, before and after Igneel left. Now that he has Lucy and a child on the way his fears of losing that family and being left alone again haunts him. He is only acting this way because he doesn't want to lose another loved one. Something I'm sure all of you can understand." he crossed his arms and looked up at his children, daring any of them to try and say that he was wrong.

They didn't. Everyone in the Guild agreed with what Master Makarov had said. They all at some point lost a loved one and the fear of being alone still haunted them in the deepest parts of their hearts. Natsu was no different from them and he was only doing everything he could to keep from losing anyone else.

"He's still an idiot." Gray commented form his seat and rolled his eyes. He may understand why the pink-haired mage acted in such a way but it still bothered him.

Happy flew over to his best friend and landed on his back. "I bet once Lucy hears about this she'll give Natsu a big hug." he patted his friend's back and smiled happily.

At the mention of his mate's name Natsu's eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet, sprinting out of the Guild before anyone could do a thing to stop him. "Lucy!" he cried out into the open streets, calling for his wife and making everyone move out of his way.

"Well then..." Natsu left behind a stunned looking Guild. "Someone should probably follow after him." Makarov motioned for Gray and Gajeel to follow him.

"We know." Gray nodded and hopped off the barstool.

Gajeel scoffed. "Let's get this over with." he and his Exceed partner walked out of the Guild with the ice mage and they took off running after the crazed fire mage before he could so any damage.

* * *

><p>Lucy let a happy grin spread onto her face as she walked through the streets of Magnolia. One hand held bags of items that they bought for her and her baby and in her other hand was an ice cream cone of Chocolate Chip Mint. She had to say that while she had craved mostly hot foods during her pregnancy she was loving the cool ice cream that just melted in her mouth and made her taste buds soar. "This is great." she happily said, content with her ice cream and how well her day was going so far. She had gotten a lot of stuff for her and the baby.<p>

The first shop they went too was a store that sold items for magic babies so they picked out a lot of baby clothes that were fireproof. From what they saw with Ryu they knew he would inherit his father's magic power so they bought clothes and toys that wouldn't burn easily if the little baby suddenly lost control of his powers. The store even had maternity dresses for her and Lucy had to admit that she had fun trying them on. She had some of her mother's old clothes that she had worn when she was pregnant with her but Lucy had liked having a bigger set. She even bought a few fire proof dresses for herself, just in case.

"We're glad you're enjoying yourself." Mirajane smiled back at her, one hand holding another bag of items that they had bought for Lucy and the baby. Each girl held one bag for her, they didn't want to tire her out so they offered to carry her bags.

"Yeah, we're happy to help," Levy came forward and wrapped one arm around Lucy's arm that was holding the bags. "I never knew shopping for a baby could be so much fun."

"I know," Lisanna came next and walked on Lucy's other side. "I can't wait for you and Natsu to have another kid. If I remember correctly Ryu said it would be a girl. I can't wait to help pick out cute little dresses for her!" she all but squealed.

Lucy felt her face burn. She had almost forgotten that after Ryu she would be having another child and the next one would be a girl. "R-Right." she chewed the last of her cone, wishing for another just to have something to distract her with.

"I wonder what she would look like?" Cana wondered out loud, thinking about the future girl that Lucy would have.

"Well Ryu looked a lot like Natsu so I'm sure that Lucy's daughter will look like her." Wendy added in, a bright smile on her face. She also had fun picking out baby toys and clothes for the future child and she was looking forward to playing with the child.

"Juvia is also wondering about Lucy's future children." Juvia spoke her thoughts and it had everyone thinking.

"I do wonder what this little girl would look like," Erza crossed her arms and held a serious look. "We can't just assume that their daughter will look like Lucy. If we do it could lead to problems such as rivalry between the two siblings." she seemed dead set on a goal that none of them were quite sure of.

"Charle do you know?" Wendy asked her female Exceed who was flying next to her.

"Sorry, I don't." Charle only stared straight ahead, looking not the least bit interested in this conversation. "I can't see that far into the future yet. Perhaps when it is getting closer to the time of birth I will be able to but until then I'm as clueless as the rest of you." she informed the group.

"Then we must wait until she is able to predict what the child will look like." Erza commented.

Lucy could only give a weak laugh. "You don't need to focus all your time and energy on this, Erza." she said before putting her free hand over her stomach. "Honestly I don't care if my kids look like Natsu or myself. I just want them to be happy and healthy and to know that they will always be loved." she said softly, rubbing her palm over her flat stomach that held her growing child inside.

"That is a wonderful thought, Lucy." Mirajane gave her a big smile and so did the other girls. They all agreed with what Lucy had said.

~**X~**

Not too far away from the group of smiling girls were Natsu, Happy, Gray, Gajeel, and Pantherlily following close behind. They all hide behind buildings, poles, trees, and bushes as they trailed behind the girls. They made sure they were at a safe enough distance not to be discovered but close enough that if something happened they could jump in and help. Of course Gray and Gajeel were mostly focused on keeping Natsu from jumping out at every guy or supposed dangerous object that got near Lucy. The two were really starting to get annoyed and they were going to demand to get paid for this annoying mission.

"You see, they're having fun shopping. There's no danger anywhere." Gray all but growled out.

"I don't care," Natsu glared right back but quickly turned his gaze back onto Lucy. "It's my duty to keep my family safe and that's what I'm going to do." he kept his focus on his wife, eyes staring a hole into her back and his arms itched to hold her close just like how Levy was doing. He understood that they needed to buy baby items but he was going to do all that when their home was finished. He wanted to be the one to help her buy things for their child.

"Stalk them is more like it." Gray scoffed, rolling his eyes and was already bored by this situation.

Natsu growled. "Oh that's real rich coming from a pervert like you!"

"What did you call me?" Gray yelled.

Soon enough the two boys started fighting, leaving Gajeel, Pantherlily, and Happy to watch them. "Dumbasses." Gajeel only shook his head and watched the girls. He saw how they all turned back to look in their direction and he didn't even bother hiding. He just crossed his arms and stared back, waiting for something interesting to happen.

"Do you think we should stop them?" Lucy asked, not too sure about what to do with this situation. They all had known that they had been followed by the boys but they didn't feel like saying anything because they were having fun. They actually had hoped that the boys would get bored and leave them alone but that hadn't been the case.

"Just ignore them." Lisanna said, not really caring about the boys that were following them.

"Yes, we will deal with them later but for now we should continue on enjoying ourselves." Erza commented, cracking her knuckles and held a devilish smile on her face.

Gajeel saw this look and grinned. This was finally starting to get interesting. He wanted to see who would be first to suffer the woman's wrath. He wasn't scared of the woman, actually he wanted to test his abilities against her and he was up for the challenge if she decided to fight them out in the middle of the street.

Lucy shuddered. She felt fear for the boys and gave a weak laugh. "Well...we should probably get going." she made a quick turn to keep going forward but she collided into someone, making her fall to the ground. She cried out in pain when she felt the hard ground cut her leg, blood dripping out of the cut. "Ow, that hurt." she frowned, holding her injured leg in on hand.

"Stupid girl," a scoff was heard from the one Lucy bumped into. A man with shaggy brown hair, green eyes and pale white skin was standing in front of her. He had on a purple silk shirt, gray dress pants and expensive looking black shoes. "That's what you get for not looking where you were going." he scoffed again at her.

Lucy glared up at this man. She knew his type and what he was like. He thought that just because he had nice things and money meant he was better than everyone else. "Listen here you-" whatever she was about to say died on her lips when a giant ball of fire came flying past her. "Natsu!" she gasped when she saw the enraged look on his face as he held the man that made her fall by the collar of his shirt, hands ablaze as it burned his clothes and made him cry out in fear.

"Bastard," Natsu growled, flames growing with every breath that he took. "You're going to pay for making her bleed." he bare his teeth and felt a satisfied grin appear on his face when he heard the man scream like a little girl. "Now apologize to her and I may just let you get away with only a few burns." he threw the man on the ground away from them and glared, waiting for an apology to come.

Said man went down on his hands and knees and cried. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" he cried giant tears, bowing before Lucy.

"I-It's fine." she said, a little embarrassed but mostly shocked by this whole thing.

Natsu let his fire go out but continued to glare. "Don't you dare let me catch you anywhere near us ever again!" he barked out and watched in pleasure as the man squeaked in fear and all but crawled away from the group. Once he was gone Natsu put on a worried look and went down to Lucy's side, hands on both of her shoulders. "Lucy, are you ok? He didn't do anything else to you did he? I swear if he did I'll kill him!" he could feel his anger rising at the possible thought of that man doing anything more to her.

Lucy gave a soft smile and took both of his hand off her shoulders and held them in her lap. "Natsu, I'm fine. It's just a small cut." she gestured to her knee that held only a little blood from it. It would be healed by the next morning.

Natsu looked at the small wound but continued to frown. "But still..." he put his head on her shoulder and held her close. "I don't want you getting hurt. It's my job to protect you." he whispered into her skin, causing her cheeks to turn a light shade of pink and her smile to increase in size.

"I know," she returned his hold, bringing him even closer to her. "I know that. I always have and I'm sorry if I worried you but I promise nothing will ever happen that could make us leave you." she knew all along about his fears of being left all alone again and she was reassuring him that it would never happen. Both her and their child would always be with him.

"Promise?" he asked, pulling his head back to look at her in the eyes.

Lucy nodded, "I promise."

Natsu grinned. "Ok," he helped her stand and took hold of her bag, along with the rest of the bags that the girls held. "Then let's get going!" he cheered, ready to do some shopping for his future son. He saw some of the toys and clothes that Lucy and the girls had bought for the baby and now he wanted to give his opinion about them. First off he was going to buy his son a lot of Dragon products. After all he was a future Dragon Slayer and his grandfather was a real life Dragon so he needed to learn and love the great creatures early on in life.

Lucy couldn't help but giggle at his antics. "I have a better idea," she wrapped her arms around his left arm, head resting on his shoulder. "How about we put these at the apartment before going out and buying a few more items like a crib and playpen?" she suggested.

"Ok," he liked that idea. They would put away the things that the girls bought and start off fresh as a real family buying items for their baby.

"We'll see you guys back at the Guild." Lucy waved them goodbye, walking away with a grinning Natsu and a flying Happy right by their side. They really were a family.

As they walked away the group could only stand there and watch. They each held a content smile on their face as they watched the family watch away from them.

"Looks like that's one problem solved." Gray said out loud.

"Yeah, but knowing them there will probably be more on the way." Levy commented.

"But of course," Mirajane smiled. "They wouldn't be where they are now if they didn't have a little fight every now and then. It's what keeps their love alive!" her eyes started to shine and everyone sweat dropped at her. You think they would be used to her weird behavior by now.


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you, Mira!" Lucy happily thanked the barmaid as she set down plate after plate in front of her. A lot of the food was covered in hot sauce, hot peppers, and many other substance that could make the normal food burn with a fiery taste. The rest was left untouched because thankfully she still had a taste for normal food that she used to eat before getting pregnant. She was already six months pregnant and it showed more with every passing day. Her stomach had grown and she could feel the baby kick every now and then and his magic power was growing as well. She was wearing a green maternity dress that looked very similar to the dress Virgo had given her when they were at the Tower of Heaven. Her hair was even tied back up with a green bandana so she couldn't help but wonder how the design had gotten out. She wondered slightly if the maid spirit was a clothes designer when she wasn't fighting for her.

Her clothes weren't the only weird thing that was happening to her now that she was pregnant. Having a powerful mage baby meant powerful magic was inside of her and she wasn't always able to control it. On some occasions she had burped fire after she was done with her meal and one morning when she yawned she had accidentally set Natsu's hair on fire. Of course he only laughed it off and gave her giant grin, telling her that he didn't really care about that. Actually he found it rather amusing. Lucy however was very upset because she could have hurt him and cried her eyes out, causing her husband to panic and hold her in his arms for most of the morning to help calm her down.

"You're welcome." Mirajane smiled down at the expecting mother and couldn't help but giggle when she saw the content look on the blonde's face as she ate plate after plate. "It looks like you're doing well. I've heard most woman are usually very moody or sick by this point." she said as she cleaned a few dishes.

Lucy shook her head. "Wendy said that I'm perfectly healthy and the mood swings come now and then, and Gajeel told me most of my energy is going towards the baby so I'm guessing that's why I'm somewhat normal." she will be the first to admit that she did have her points where she would just freak out. It had worried Natsu because it was usually her crying or scream her head off at him. Thankfully they didn't happen often because all of her energy went to keeping the baby safe and healthy. She was a little upset that she couldn't summon any of her spirits. By the third months she felt almost all of her magic gone and went, as Gajeel explained, to the baby. Her magic would act a shield to the infant inside her, helping nurture and help her son grow into his powers so that when he was born he wouldn't come out as a giant fire ball. That piece of information made both her and Porlyusica, who after a lot of convincing from Makarov agreed to help deliver Ryu, feel much better about the birthing process. Lucy knew that both of them would not have fun when a burning ball of fire would come out of her body, she was sure it would sting like hell, so after learning that her magic would help control her son's magic was a great relief.

"I see," Mirajane nodded, saying she understood what she had been told. "Well I'm just glad that everything is going well for you." she put away some of the dirty dishes and handed Lucy a tall glass of milk. She and the rest of the Guild did what they could to help keep Lucy and the baby safe and healthy.

Lucy happily accepted the drink. "Thanks but I have to say that I can't wait to start going on missions again." ever since she got pregnant she hasn't been on a single mission. Natsu forbid her from using her keys and if she said she was going into town to buy supplies he would either go with her himself or he would send someone with her. He was extremely protective of her.

"You know, Lucy if you get bored you can always come to the Guild. I'm positive we could find for you to do." Mirajane told her, mind already thinking of activities that Lucy could do while pregnant.

"Well it's not just that," Lucy looked over her shoulder to where Natsu was, having an arm wrestling contest with Gray. He looked pretty into it but with his super sensitive hearing she wouldn't put it past him to have heard everything she had already just said. Carefully she leaned in closer to Mira, putting one hand up to her mouth so to block out as much of Natsu's hearing as she could. "Actually I want to go on missions to make money again."

"What?" Mirajane blinked in confusion, one hand over her own mouth as she leaned in closer to Lucy as well. "But I thought you didn't have to pay rent anymore?" it was true. During her third month of pregnancy their house had been finished and Lucy had officially moved in. The land wasn't owned by anyone so they didn't have to pay rent to anybody but that didn't mean that they didn't need money.

"Well it's not about the rent but we still need to buy food and we'll need to buy a lot of supplies after the baby is born," she wasn't a fool to think that once the baby was born that they would live happily ever after with their child. She knew there would be dirty diapers, baby toys and clothes that he would outgrow within only a short time span, food that would probably get thrown when the baby was fussy and a lot more. "Natsu does bring home money when he goes out on missions but like always most of it goes back to the town and I'm worried about our budget after Ryu is born." she rubbed her enlarged tummy with one hand and looked behind her to see Natsu and Gray still fighting over their little match.

Mirajane nodded, "I see what you mean," she had to agree that the girl had a good point. Babies were expensive and they would need a lot of money to support not only themselves but their son as well. "What about your book? I thought it was selling well?"

After not being allowed to go on missions and finally convincing Natsu to go on them without her meant that she had a lot of free time to finish her novel. She actually had it published a few months ago and so far it was selling very well in stores. She was currently working on a sequel for it but that wouldn't be done for another few months. "Well yeah but after the baby is born I won't be able to write for a while so it's not like we'll be able to rely on that alone." she spoke her worries, finishing off her milk and turned back around to watch the table that was supporting Natsu and Gray's match broke under the pressure and they were now having their fight on the ground.

"The baby isn't even born and already you're worrying." Lucy nearly jumped out of her skin when Makarov suddenly appeared next to her. He was sitting with his legs crossed on the bar next to her. "Well I guess it just means you'll be a good mother." he gave her a bright grin.

Lucy could only smile weakly back. She was still trying to calm down her beating heart from the sudden scare. "Thanks." she let out a soft sigh and went back to rubbing her stomach. She hadn't felt a kick all day from her son which was strange, usually the baby was very active. She knew what he had already inherited from his father and she could already imagine herself chasing after a hyper mini version of Natsu.

Makarov only nodded. "I can understand your reasoning for worrying but you don't need to fear, Lucy," he sent her a proud grin and gestured over towards Natsu who was starting to turn purple from all the pressure he was putting into his arm to try and beat Gray. The ice mage was turning the very same color as his rival. "I don't believe I need to tell you how hard Natsu is working for you and your child, he is taking on many dangerous missions and from what I've heard is being careful not to cause to much damage."

Lucy looked surprised, "Really?" she hadn't heard about that from him. Natsu had told her almost every detail about the missions he took but she hadn't heard he was trying not to destroy things.

"It's true," Mirajane offered her a gentle smile. "Erza told us how hard he is trying to keep from causing damage so their pay doesn't get cut like it always" she gave a soft giggle at her next train of thought."She says that every other word out of his mouth is about you and your baby. He is constantly thinking about you both." she reached over to touch her friend's enlarged stomach and giggled when she felt a kick as her response.

"Is that so?" Lucy turned her gaze back to Natsu, who was still fighting with Gray, and noticed how his eyes would quickly travel in her direction before going back to his rival and then turn back onto her. Even now he was constantly worrying about them. "I'll have to thank him properly then." she smiled happily and blew a kiss in his direction when she saw his gaze had returned to her. She received a happy grin in return and with that he finally beat Gray in their arm wrestling competition.

"But still..." Makarov let out a long sigh. "Although he is trying that boy's nature is to destroy things," he rested his cheek in one hand and looked upward towards his office. "Right now I have a giant pile of property damage with Natsu's name written all over it." Lucy gave a weak laugh, she wasn't too surprised to hear that. "The council even stopped sending me reports to fill out. They know who caused the damage and instead they just send me bills." he gave a weak sigh, thinking of all the bills that were on his desk that needed to be paid.

"Master?" Mirajane called his attention away from the damages before they lost him. "Isn't there something you want to talk to Lucy about." she reminded him, hoping to get his mind off the bills and onto something that doesn't make him so depressed.

"Yes, you're right," he couched, gathering himself back together. He took out a folded slip of paper and handed it to the expecting mother. "This is an S-Class quest. Erza has already accepted the job and she suggested in bringing Natsu along with her. The job will take at most three months to complete and Erza has agreed to give all the reward to you and Natsu. I believe the money should last you for a while, in fact you'll probably still have a good amount of it when you start doing requests again yourself."

Lucy looked over the paper that had a giant red "S" marked on it. It was just like the request that Happy stole for them when they went to the cursed island. The mission was about a monster that seemed to appear only on the night of the new moon, waiting in the shadows and seemed to be sucking the very life out of its victims. Reports claimed the victim's bodies were discovered to be very old and frail, almost like lifeless shells of who they once were. The towns people were ready to abandon the town if something isn't down soon. "So they'll only have three chances to catch this thing?" she read the time limit, three months. The time limit was very close to her due date and that made her worry some, not just because there was an evil monster running around sucking the very life out of people but because she wanted Natsu to be there for her when their son was born.

"Don't worry so much," Master Makarov gave her a soft pat on the head. "Natsu will make it in time. He wants to see his son be born just as much as you do. He'll be there." he gave her an encouraging smile, one that Lucy couldn't help but return.

"Yeah, you're right." she never doubted Natsu on anything so there was no reason to start now. "I understand what the mission offers and I accept the dangers and time limit. If Natsu wants to accept this request then I'll give him my blessings."

Makarov nodded, "I am glad to hear it."

"As am I," Erza suddenly appeared behind Lucy, her hand slamming down on her friend's shoulder with a loud slap. "I was worried about you and the baby so I asked the Master to allow me to bring Natsu on a request with me, with your permission of course. Now that I have it I no longer have to wait to start the mission." with that said she walked over to the giant group, dragging the pink-haired boy away and back to the bar.

"Hey, what the hell!" Natsu cried, not happy that he just dragged by the back of his shirt and slammed into the bar. "I-" his words died on his lips when he saw the expression on the scarlet-haired woman's face.

"You and Gray will accompany me on an S-Class quest. The mission will last about three months and during these three months we will only have three chances to succeed. Failure it not an option. Is that clear?"

Natsu was shaking like a leaf. "Aye sir!" he saluted her, too scared to do anything else.

Erza gave a nod of approval. "Glad to hear it. Now be sure you get a lot of rest tonight, we will leave by noon tomorrow." with that said she walked away to explain things to Gray.

Once she was gone Natsu gave a sigh of relief and looked down at his wife, a solemn expression was on his face. "Natsu?" Lucy reached over, placing her hand over his still one. "Are you ok?" she never received a reply. Instead Natsu picked her up, carrying her in his arms and out of the Guild. "Hey! Put me down? What are you doing?" she clung to his neck, yelling at him to put her down before they fell or more weird rumors started up about them. She just finished convincing people that he was only overly protective of her and their baby and not some creepy stalker.

They walked around for a short while, Lucy hiding her face in his chest to hide away some of the embarrassment she was feeling. Already she could tell that people were staring at them. "Natsu, what are you doing?" she mumbled into his chest, wanting some kind of answer from him.

"I want to talk," he finally came to a stop, setting her down on the ground and placing her in between his legs as he leaned against a tree. Carefully he pulled her into a tight hug, his face buried in her hair and hands holding her close to him. "Are you positive you're fine with me going on this request?"

She smiled, returning his hold. "If I wasn't then I wouldn't have told the master and Erza that I was." she rested her head on his shoulder, leaning in closer to his warm body that made her feel so safe.  
>"I'll be gone for a while." He placed a hand on her stomach, rubbing it gently.<p>

"I know," she placed her hand over his and intertwined their fingers. "I understand what the mission requires but I have faith in you Natsu. I know you'll succeed and I know you'll be back in time to see our son be born." she gave him her brightest smile. She wanted him to know that she had no doubt in her mind about him. He was accomplish this mission and make it back in time to see their son be born. She believed in him.

* * *

><p>Lucy let out a soft sigh as she stared up at the clear sky above her. She was in her home, Natsu resting beside her with one hand resting over her belly and the other holding her hand that held her Fairy Tail mark. Her eyes looked over the stars that were shinning in from the window above them. Natsu had surprised her by installing a clear glass window above their bed so she could look out at the stars. It had been a wonderful surprise and she loved that he had done that for her. Even though he didn't always seem like it he was a really sweet guy that just wanted the people he loved to be happy.<p>

With a small smile on her face she moved her gaze to her left and couldn't help but giggle at how Natsu slept. He snored just as loud as ever but she had gotten so used to it that it didn't even reach her ears anymore. There was a trace of drool running out of his grinning mouth and she would have been annoyed that he was drooling on her but she found him looking to cute to care. His head rested in the crook of her neck and his body kept her warm and close to his, he was always holding her in his sleep. She noticed, even back when they weren't together, that he always slept with his arms around her body. He had always known, even when she didn't, that they were meant for each other.

With her free hand she ran her fingers through his pink locks that were always sticking up and looking spiky and messy but also perfectly in place. "Lucy..." he whispered out softly, his grin growing in size as he inched himself even closer to her. His hand unconsciously started to rub her stomach that held their child. "...love you." he mumbled in his sleep, nuzzling his face more into her neck and gave a sigh of content. He was truly in a deep sleep, dreaming about who knows what but she knew that it involved her and that made her smile.

She felt the mark on her chest begin to burn, making her body heat up. This mark was proof that she was his and only his. She liked knowing that and she knew that he liked it even more. She giggled softly when their baby started to kick and when she saw the proud grin form on his face at the feeling. She watched him silently for a few more moments, her mind took her back to this morning. While she was still nervous about the S-Class request she knew why he was doing it.

One reason being the obvious. He loved fighting and if given the chance he would take up any fight without so much as blinking an eye.

He had told her later on when they returned home and were eating dinner that his real reason for accepting the request and leaving her for three long months was because he wanted to support his family.

_"Igneel gave it his all to raise me and now I want to do the same with my son." _

She felt such pride and love burn in her chest when she remembered those words. She wasn't the only one worrying about their future with their child, Natsu was constantly thinking it over. He was going to take this dangerous mission because he wanted them to have a secure future for their son and make sure that they were all happy. "I love you too." she kissed his drooling cheek before closing her eyes and allowed herself to finally asleep.

* * *

><p>The morning came fast and already the Dragneel family was in the Guild, waiting for Erza to arrive so they could head out and start the mission. "Just how long has he been this way?" Gray asked in a bored tone, arms crossed over his chest.<p>

Lucy gave a soft sigh. "All morning." she answered him and looked over at her husband that had his arms wrapped tightly around her body. No matter what she said or did he hadn't released his hold on her at all. From the moment they left their house his arms were wrapped securely around her and it didn't seem like he was going to be letting go any time soon.

Gray just rolled his eyes. "Erza is going to be here any minute, you need to let Lucy go." he informed the fire mage.

Natsu however wasn't listening, he shook his head frantically and tightened his grip on his mate. "I don't wanna leave Lucy until I absolutely have too!" he cried, nuzzling his face in her hair and causing a big scene inside the Guild that had caught everyone's attention. "I won't be able to see her or hold her or kiss her or anything that I like doing with her for a whole three months! So I'm gonna savor every last moment with her."

Gray and Lucy each looked at him like he was crazy.

_"He makes it sound like he's dying." _Gray thought, hoping that he wouldn't act this weird on the mission.

_"I'm almost scared to see what he'll be like when he comes back." _Lucy thought, already thinking of how he'll act when he returns. If he was this upset in the beginning she didn't want to know how he would be like at the end.

"Good you're all here," Erza arrived with her giant cart of luggage, this one even bigger than the usual load. "I'll assume this means you are all ready to go." she held a determined smile on her face.

Gray ran one hand through his hair. "We are but Natsu is having separation anxiety." he gestured over to the fire mage that had tightened his hold on his wife even more when Erza appeared.

"I can't help it," Natsu cried, pressing his body fully up against his wife. "The longest I've ever been gone from Luce and the baby has only been three days. I'm not used to this long time separation."

"It's only three months, Natsu." Lucy patted his arm in hopes to calm him down before he started crying fire. "That time will go by really fast." she assured him.

Natsu continued to pout despite his wife's words. "Even so..." he looked down at her with a sadden expression on his face.

She knew better than anyone how much leaving them bothered him. He finally had a family of his own, something he wanted ever since Igneel left. She knew that he was scared that he would return and they would be gone but that would never happen. "Everything will be fine. Ryu and I will be right here waiting for you to return home," she placed his two hands on her stomach and soon enough the little baby boy inside her started kicking. "See, he agrees with me so you have nothing to worry about." she laughed lightly when she saw the ecstatic look on his face when he felt his son kicking. He always had the same proud look on his face whenever Ryu was active.

"Alright, I'm all fired up!" He jumped to his feet, a new determined look on his face. If his son and wife held so much confidence in him then he needed to hold the same type of confidence in himself. "Happy, I'm leaving you in charge of looking after Lucy and our baby." he saluted his best friend. It was decided late last night that Happy would remain behind to watch over Lucy and Ryu in Natsu's place.

"Aye sir!" Happy saluted him right back, his face holding its own form of determination. He wouldn't let his friends down.

Erza and Gray gave each other the same amused but proud looks. It was always fun watching the new family interact with each other. "Come on, it's time to go." Erza called to her two teammates and headed out the door. Gray followed her with a quick wave to his friends at the Guild but Natsu stayed behind for a few moments.

"You sure you're ok with me going?" he asked her once again. He wanted to be absolutely sure that she would be safe and happy while he couldn't be there to take care of her.

Lucy nodded, "I'll be fine. Nothing is going to happen to us, the worst thing will be is that we'll both miss you very much." she told him.

Natsu gave her a gentle smile and leaned down to kiss her lips with his. "I'll miss you too." with one last kiss to her and a soft pat to her stomach he ran out of the Guild doors to join his team on their mission. Quickly he turned back around to give her a giant wave goodbye with both his arms and she waved him goodbye as well. The next time they would see each other again would be in three months.

"Ah," she winced, rubbing her stomach when a swift kick hit her. "I know, I miss him already too." Natsu wasn't gone more than a minute and already she was missing him like crazy. "Come back soon." she whispered softly, eyes misty, and her son kicking her more. They both missed him dearly.

* * *

><p>Over at Magnolia train station Lucy wasn't the only one having problems with missing their other half.<p>

"Let me go! I gotta go make sure that Lucy is safe!" Natsu cried, fighting against Gray's icy hold.

"She's fine, we only left ten minutes ago!" the ice mage groaned, trying to get the frantic fire wizard onto the train.

"No, she needs me. I can tell!" he started to breath fire to try and get away from the man that was keeping him and his wife from reuniting.

"I told you Lucy is fine!" Gray cried, using all his strength to hold back his teammate. "Hey Erza, how about a little help." he called to his captain for some help. He needed all he could get if he was going to keep Natsu from running back to the Guild.

Erza didn't say anything, she merely sent her fist flying into Natsu's stomach, making him black out instantly. "There, now we won't have to worry about him running away." she sent the ice mage a proud grin, obviously happy with her accomplishment.

_"Erza's just as brutal as ever." _Gray gave a weak laugh at his thought before dragging the unconscious body of his teammate onto the train and dumping him on one of the seats. "You do realize that once he wakes up he's going to be just as crazy to get back." he added.

"I know," Erza nodded, agreeing with what her friend told her. "But I'm sure once he realize that we are too far away for him to run back on foot and sees how much the town we are in is suffering he will calm down." she said it completely sure of her words.

Gray however wasn't as convinced. "If you say so." honestly he thought that the fire mage would be as crazy even after the entered the town. The guy would probably just go on a rampage, searching for whatever evil they were facing, so he could get back to Lucy faster.

"Lucy...!" Natsu mumbled weakly, still unconscious but dreaming about the wife and child he just left behind.

"That's the spirit, Natsu. Dream of your goal and we'll be able to accomplish this request with ease." Erza gave a nod of approval and was already making up battle strategies.

_"This is gonna be a long mission." _Gray could only sigh and look out the window, watching the passing scenery go by. He already knew how this mission would give him a huge headache.


	3. Chapter 3

The entire Guild was bursting with energy and life this day, everyone was smiling and laughing like always but this time they added more enthusiasm to their daily life. "I bet you're excited, Lucy." Mirajane happily said, rubbing her friends large stomach and beamed when she felt a swift kick.

"Soon enough you'll get to see your precious baby boy." Levy was sitting right by her best friend and smiling just as bright as Mira.

Lucy nodded to the two women by her and smiled down at her large stomach. "Honestly I just want to hold him already. I can't wait to see him." ever since she got pregnant she was remembering when Ryu came to the past and how the little boy had looked. She already knew that he could like a little Natsu but she wanted to see him when he was born, how precious and small and adorable he would be when she gets to hold him for the first time. To see him take his first steps, his first words, and even his first attempt at magic. She wanted her little boy to be born so she could see it all.

"I know how you feel Lucy," Happy called from his spot on the table, his paws and head rubbing a large blue and white egg. "I can't wait to see my son either. How about you, Charle?" he looked over at the white cat that finally after months and month of asking accepted him and become his partner in life.

Charle looked away in embarrassment. "I suppose." she sent him a small smile that made his own grow even more.

Lucy laughed at the two cats. Charle may not show it but Lucy could see that the two were very much in love and happily expecting their son just as she and Natsu were. "I still can't believe it's only been a month since Charle had the egg." Levy commented from her spot.

"If I remember correctly that's how long it took for Happy to be born." Lisanna said, joining them as they watched the expecting parents.

"Exceed eggs take only about a month to fully develop before being born. While we are inside the egg our bodies absorb the magic that is around us, which allows us to keep our magic inside our bodies and what allows us to have our wings." Lily explained to the girls.

"I see," Levy nodded, saying she understood. "This is just so exciting," she reached over and hugged her best friend. "Lu-Chan, you not only released your second book but now you're about to become a mother and Happy and Charle are going to have their own kid as well. This is just so amazing!"

Lucy nodded, "Yes, it really is." she set her gaze to the door and sighed. _"Natsu where are you?" _

"Would you relax," she jumped in her seat when Gajeel suddenly appeared behind her. "That moron won't leave you all alone. Not when it's your first child."

She smiled softly at the iron mage. "Yeah, you're right." it was his weird of reassuring her and it worked. She trusted that Natsu would be home in time for their child to be born. "Well I'm going to go back. I'll see you all tomorrow." with that said she headed home, her eyes keeping an eye out for anything pink and white.

* * *

><p>Lucy gave a soft sigh as she stared up at the stars in the clear night sky. The full moon was out and every star in the sky was shining brightly down on her from the window in her bedroom. The three months that Natsu had left her and the baby have been lonely. Although she had everyone at the Guild there to care for her and Ryu, she still missed her husband deeply and hoped he would be home soon. <em>"Natsu, please come back soon." <em>she looked at the clock on the wall and let out another sigh. Only a few more minute left before the clock would strike midnight, the day would be July 24th and it would be the day that Ryu would be born. She had been sending letters to her husband for a while but lately she had not received any word of what their situation was or if he was on his way home.

"That guy better hurry home soon." she pouted, eyes looking back over at the clock. She would admit that she was a little nervous to know that the next morning she would be going into labor, her whole body would be filled with pain as her son was brought into this world. Juvia had been staying with her in the guest bedroom the last month, keeping an eye on her in case Ryu was born unexpectedly. The blonde knew though that the water mage was really there to keep her company because Happy was staying with Charle and Wendy. Over the three months Happy and Charle became very close and now they were expecting their own child. The egg that held their son Lucky was staying at the Guild, the two parents plus Wendy all staying nearby.

A soft sigh escaped her once more as she stared up at the stars from her bed. Whenever she was lonely she would always watch the stars, from the time her mother passed away, to her father, and now to her husband who she wished would return by the time of their baby's birth. Her stomach was as round as it could get, Ryu kicking her almost every day, telling her that he was ready to be born. She put one hand on her large stomach and felt the magical warmth of her son coming from inside her.

_"Still it's amazing, how much as happen in so little time." _being left all alone allowed her a lot of time to think about her life. When she first ran away from her home, to meeting with Natsu and Happy in town that one special day, joining Fairy Tail, becoming part of an amazing home and team, creating such strong bonds with everyone, and most of all falling in love with Natsu and having Ryu. "You're father really is an amazing person. Without him I doubt I would have ever had the courage to ever face my father or even become part of Fairy Tail. He made my life very happy from day one, he just has this special power that makes everyone around him feel just so happy," she spoke softly to her son, the warmth spreading through her body, letting her know that he was hearing her. "I hope you are born with that same special power."

The moon shined down brightly in on her, giving her all the light she needed to read that the time on the clock had changed. It was midnight, today was July 24th and it was the day that Ryu would be born. "Natsu, where are you?" she wished he would come home.

"Lucy," she gasped as two arms engulfed her in a hug from behind. A sudden but dearly missed warmth filled her body as tears formed in her eyes. "I'm home." his voice reached her ears as the tears began to fall.

"Natsu!" she spun around to hold him in her own arms. She was so glad to have him back home.

He held her close to him, one hand running through her hair in a calming motion and the other holding her large stomach that grew in size since the last he saw her. "I know, I missed you too." he kissed her forehead before moving to bury his nose in her head, taking in his wife's scent that he deeply missed. He missed her as much as she missed him. It felt so good to have her back in his arms. "Sorry, that stupid monster took longer than I thought to catch. When we finally did catch it I can running all the way back here."

Lucy let out a soft laugh, wiping away the tears that were still falling from her eyes. "I bet Erza is not happy about that."

"I could care less about what Erza thinks," he stood back up on his feet, bringing her with him and looked up and down at her body. "All I care about is you. This whole time I kept wondering if you were safe or not, and that I can finally see for myself that you're ok, you both are." he pulled her back into his tight embrace, not caring that he was just hit in the stomach by her giant baby bump. He finally had his love back in his arms, safe and sound, and that made life perfect for him.

Another soft laugh escaped her, the tears finally stopped and she returned his embrace with her own. She was just as happy as him to have him back. "Natsu...!" that happiness was short lived when Lucy felt something wet run down her legs, staining the floor and their shoes.

"Uh...Lucy?" Natsu looked down at his wife in concern. "What was that?" he felt the water hit his feet and he wasn't too sure what to think of it.

Lucy felt her heart rate start to speed up, it was finally happening. "My water just broke," she pulled out of his embrace but kept hold of his hands, the hands she was sure she would damage later on. "The baby is coming. Now!"

Natsu froze in his spot, his mind shutting down instantly but somehow a million thoughts were still running through his mind. "What!" he nearly fell over.

"Lucy, what is wrong? Juvia heard screaming." Juvia appeared out of her room and saw the shocked form of Natsu holding the anxious form of his wife.

"Juvia, get my bag. The baby is coming and we need to-!" Lucy clenched her stomach in pain as the first contraction came. The pain was intense and she fell to her knees as a white hot burning feeling erupted inside her. She was having a fire mage baby and it was showing with a burning force.

Natsu suddenly burst into action. "Juvia grab Lucy's bag. We gotta get to the Guild!" he cried and the water mage was already grabbing the packed bag and heading out the door. "Lucy, hang on. I'll make sure you and the baby are ok." he carried her bridal style and ran all the way to the Guild as fast as he feet could carry him.

"Natsu," Lucy looked up at him with pained eyes, the contractions hurt like hell but she was just glad he was back home. "Remind me to kill you for doing this to me later." she mumbled into his chest as yet another contraction came, making her body grow hot as the pain shot through her. Why did childbirth have to be so painful?

Natsu gulped at her words, he was scared that she was serious. The Guild came up and he didn't hesitate to kick down the doors. "Lucy is having the baby!" he cried to the few that were in the room.

Erza and Gray, who had just arrived at the Guild to give their report, cried out in shock when they heard this news. "What?" Their eyes wide as plates as they tried to register what was happening.

Mirajane quickly ran to the couple. "Natsu, I need you to follow me. We need to bring Lucy into the infirmary." she directed the pink-haired man who followed quickly after her.

"Juvia is coming too." Juvia followed them, tossing the baby bag that she held to Gray and ran down the hallway.

"Erza, go and get Porlyusica. We need her to get here now." Makarov commanded the S-Class mage who said nothing, only nodded and ran out the door. "Gray, create a giant block of ice in each of the four corners of the room. Lucy is giving birth to fire Dragon Slayer baby, the heat could cause her problems and we need to keep her cool."

"Got it." Gray ran to the room, his hands already making the ice that would help his friend.

"Lisanna, Elfman, I want you both to contact everyone in the Guild. Tell them to get their butts over here so they can properly greet our newest member." Makarov said this last with a giant grin on his face. He was just as excite as everyone else to know that a new member was joining them.

"You got it." Lisanna gave him a bright smile in return.

"As a man I will not fail!" Elfman saluted him with tears streaming down his face.

The two siblings ran to let everyone know that their newest member of Fairy Tail would be joining them shortly.

Makarov watched as all his children ran around to help Lucy as she gave birth to Ryu. Each one of them were working in tune with each other. "We will see you soon, young one." he whispered to no one, staring down the hall that held the room where the young blonde mage was about to start giving birth to her first born child.

* * *

><p>"Argh!" Lucy's cries reached the entire Guild that was shuddering every time they heard her cries of pain.<p>

"This is so horrible." Levy felt like crying for her best friend, her hands covering her ears to try and block out the cries of anguish that would escape.

"How long has she been like this?" Wendy asked with a few tears in her eyes. She didn't like hearing her friend in this kind of pain anymore than the rest of them.

"Arrgghhh!" Another cry reached them and they flinched at how this one sounded.

"Twelve hours." Macao gulped when he remembered how long Lucy had been in labor.

He could still remembering having Romeo with his ex-wife and it didn't take her nearly as long to have the baby. Lucy had gone into labor at midnight and now it was already midday, counting a total of twelve hours since her water broke. "Poor Lu-Chan." Levy wanted to do something to help her friend but she couldn't think of anything that could help.

"Bunny-Girl ain't ever gonna let pinky touch her ever again after this." Gajeel said and they all agreed. Who would want to after twelve horribly painful hours of trying to get a baby out of you?

"Natsu will be lucky if she even let's him sleep in the same bed as her after this. " Wakaba shook his head sadly.

"Poor Lucy." Happy held his egg tightly, trying to block out the painful screams that were reaching them.

"She has great stamina." Charle didn't know what else to say. She was impressed that Lucy was still going even after all of this.

"I still can't believe that Juvia and Gray are still in there with them." Droy shuddered when he thought of the two mages that had remained in the room the whole time. They were working together to keep Lucy from overheating from the fire that was inside her.

"They're really dedicated." Jet gulped, he knew he could never do that.

"They are truly man!" Elfman cried out.

"This isn't the time for that, Elf-nii." Lisanna rolled her eyes at her older brother.

"Still I do hope Lucy will be ok." Mirajane served everyone some drinks, trying her best to lessen the tension in the atmosphere.

"Quiet," Erza suddenly cried, jumping to her feet and standing in the direction of the hallway.

"What's wrong, Erza?" Cana joined her in standing, wondering what could have caused her to suddenly act so strange.

"Listen," she hushed them, making them listen. They did and gasped. There was no more screaming of pain instead there was only a soft cry of a newborn baby being heard.

"And so Fairy Tail now has a new member." Makarov walked down the hall, the others following softly but quickly behind him. They all wanted to see their newest member.

"I see you're all here," Porlyusica walked out, wiping her hand clean with a cloth. "It took that damn brat long enough to come out but he has finally arrived. You have a new member to the Guild, Makarov."

"Actually you're wrong," Makarov gave her a wide grin. "We have a new Guild member and a new family member all at once."

Porlyusica gave a soft laugh. "Yes, I suppose you're right," she walked away from the giant group and headed for her home. "The girl will need a lot of rest so do not bother her for long."

With that in mind they opened the door to the room that held inside their newest member. "Hey guys," they were greeted by a tired looking Lucy, holding a small bundle in her arms. Natsu was sitting right by her on the bed, one arm wrapped around her shoulder, the other hand was resting under the small body of his newborn son.

Natsu moved his gaze to them, offering them all a proud smile. "Come on over, we want you guys to meet someone special." he had the biggest grin anyone of them had ever seen on his face. This was a special day for him and he couldn't help but smile.

"Lucy, how are you doing?" Makarov walked over to her with a bright smile on his face. He jumped onto one of the nearby stools and stood in front of the new parents. "You had us all worried there for some moments."

Lucy giggled softly. "I'm fine, this little one was just being stubborn." she looked down at her son as she spoke. Pride and love were in her eyes as she stared down at the small but precious buddle that was resting happily in her arms.

"The kids not even a day old yet and already he's taking after Natsu." Gray commented, coming over to sit down on the bed next to Lucy. He and Juvia had used up a lot of their magic to help during the delivery and now they needed to rest.

"Juvia agrees, he really was causing problems." Juvia sat down next to Gray. She was glad she was able to help out so much but now she was happy to rest and sit so closely with her beloved Gray.

Lucy only smiled at the two. "Thank you both for helping, I really appreciate it."

Gray just waved it off. "It's fine. You don't have to thank us. We are friends and it's what we do for each other," suddenly he turned his head to the side and had a deep frown on his face. "Besides if you really want to repay us you can do it by getting those images out of my head." he grumbled and shuddered as the memories came back.

"What images?" Levy looked at the members in the room for some answers.

"Gray-sama looked over at one point when Lucy was delivering and saw the baby being born." Juvia answered when she saw that Gray was too busying shuddering to answer.

Natsu snorted. "The pansy nearly fainted." he grinned in amusement at his old rival/friend.

"Oh, shut up." Gray just rolled his eyes. He was too tired to fight the fire mage today.

Lucy only laughed once more before sending a tired smile at the two mages. "Well I think I know one way that could cheer you up," she looked to Natsu for approval and smiled more when she saw him nod. "Juvia, Gray, we were hoping you two would be our son's godparents."

The two froze in their spots. "Are you serious?" Gray gasped out in shock.

"We wouldn't be asking if we weren't." Natsu just continued on grinning.

"You both helped out so much this whole time that we feel you two would make a perfect match to be the godparents." Lucy added in.

"Lucy," Juvia stood up to her feet and walked over to the two new parents, a proud smile on her face. "Juvia would be honored to your child's godmother."

"Same here," Gray came up behind her, putting a hand on Juvia's shoulder and smiled down. "We do make a good team so we might as well continue on as godparents."

Juvia felt like she was about to faint. "Gray-sama!" she hugged the man she loved with a tight embrace, joy and love spreading through her entire body.

Gray just blushed and looked away. "Yeah, whatever. Just don't start flooding the place." he grumbled, clearly embarrassed but he didn't push her away.

Everyone in the room laughed at the two, enjoying how well they were acting together. "No fair, Lu-Chan," Levy pouted and walked over to the other side of her best friend. "I wanted to be the godmother."

"As did I." The rest of the girls in the room said, sighing in disappointment.

"You guys don't have to worry," Natsu sent them all a bright grin that seemed to light up the room. "You can just wait for the next ones."

"Next ones?" Lisanna blinked, wondering if she and everyone else heard him right.

"You mean more than one?" Cana wasn't too sure what was going through his mind right now.

"Yep," Natsu however failed to notice to strange looks he was getting. "You didn't think Lucy and I would only have one? We're gonna lots more." he beamed, already planning his future children.

"I feel really bad for Lu-Chan." Levy whispered to Lisanna.

"No kidding. Natsu is serious going to do a number on her." Lisanna whispered back, looking at the blonde that seemed to just ignore her husband's words.

"You two know I can you right?" Natsu sent a mock glare at the two girls, pouting when they only laughed at him.

Makarov watched his children all laugh with one another, making the Guild seem to light and happy. "So tell us Lucy, what is his name?" he looked at the two parents, meeting their proud gazes with one of his own. "I have to know this child's name if I'm going to write it in our Guild's log books. He is a proud member of Fairy Tail from now on so his name should be known."

Lucy nodded, bringing her son closer and showing him to everyone in the room. They saw a soft baby boy with light pink hair, resting happily in his mother's arms. His two little hands sticking out of the blue blanket that he was wrapped securely in as soft snores escaped his tiny mouth. "Ryu Satu Dragneel." she spoke his name and instantly his eyes opened wide, soft brown eyes staring at the group of people that were all looking at him and smiled a toothless but happy smile. A smile that was a perfect combination of his father's and his mother's. "Ryu meaning Dragon and Satu meaning Fairytale." everyone gasped at her choice of words. "Our son has the perfect name because that is how his story begins. Natsu and I fell in love creating our own dragon and our own fairytale." she hugged her son close to her chest, kissing his forehead, making him laugh in joy at the attention her was receiving from his mother.

Makarov nodded, proud tears shinning in his eyes. "It is a good name," he raised his hand in the air, all but his point finger curled into a fist as his one finger was pointed upwards. The message of Fairy Tail that always says that wherever you are in the world you will always be watched over by those who love you. "Welcome Ryu Satu Dragneel of Fairy Tail. We welcome you to your new home." everyone in the room smiled bright, doing the same message with their hands, showing the newborn that he would never be alone, that he had a loving family right beside him.

"Everyone!" Wendy suddenly came running into the room with Happy and Charle's egg. It was glowing bright in her hands. "The eggs is hatching." she exclaimed and everyone watched as the egg cracked before a blinding blue light shot out from it and in its place was a blue and white kitten with pure white wings.

"It's our son!" Happy flew over to his newborn son and hugged him close to his body. "Charle our son is born!" he cried tears of joy.

Charle flew over to her son and smiled softly. "Yes, I see."

"Natsu, isn't it great," Happy handed his son to Charle and flew over to his best friend. "Both our sons were born on the same day."

Natsu agreed, "Yep, we're both very lucky." he cheered happily, loving how his family seemed to just get bigger and bigger.

"That's what we'll name him then, Lucky!" Happy said with pride.

"Lucky!" the newborn kitten happily repeated his name. Telling all that he approved.

"Hey Lucy," Natsu smiled down at his wife and now the mother of his child. "Isn't it great. Our family just got even bigger." he sent her down another giant grin.

Lucy nodded, smiling her own happy grin. "Yes, it is." she leaned into her husband and laughed when she saw Lucky and Ryu meet for the first time, both boys smiling with pure joy as they played together. "They make the perfect team," she kissed her son's forehead once more and whispered into his head. "I'm so glad to finally meet you, my little dragon." her sweet words of love caused her son to laugh with joy and reach out for his parents, wanting more attention from them.

The two parents looked at their son and then at each other, this moment had to be the happiest moment in their life, and nothing would ever change that. They would forever being a loving family, forever loving their strong baby boy that was born under the Dragon's Eye.


	4. Chapter 4

"He is so cute!"  
>"Absolutely adorable!"<p>

"He's so precious."

"You must be so proud."

"You guys made such a beautiful baby!"

Everyone in the Guild was swarming around Lucy as she held the now seven week years old Ryu in her arms, sucking on his pacifier. The little baby boy was looking on in wonder at so many people that were surrounding him and his mother. He was not used to this many eyes surrounding him and he wasn't sure what to think of it. All the girls were making a giant fuss of him, calling him cute and more, while the guys were busy congratulating Natsu for finally becoming a real man. The Guild was even more lively than it usually is but no one really seemed to mind.

"Lu-Chan, he is just so cute!" Levy cooed, playing with one of Ryu's little feet and squealed in delight when she saw the baby laugh in amusement.

"He'll be a real heartbreaker when he grows up," Cana said with an amused smirk in Natsu's direction. "That is, as long as her inherited his mother's smarts. If he is anything like his father Fairy Tail will be waiting for another couple to get together for years just like we did." her words caused everyone to laugh, making Natsu pout.

"Well excuse me for not understanding stupid dating customs. Igneel taught me much more important things." he mumbled under his breath, putting an arm around Lucy's shoulder and looking down at his son. "Still, I guess if he gets Lucy's brain I wouldn't complain. It just means he can think of even cooler ways to use his fire."

"His fire?" Lisanna looked at the proud father with confusion. "What do you mean his fire?"

"I'll show you" Lucky flew over to Ryu, pulling the pacifier out of the baby's mouth, making his eyes start to water and letting all know that he was about to cry, but Lucky quickly flapped his wings in front of the little boy's face and flew away.

Ryu scrunched up his nose and sneezed out a ball of fire, causing everyone besides his parents to scream in shock. "Well it explains the heartburn." Lucy said weakly, putting the pacifier back in her son's mouth before he started crying. The baby happily sucked on his pacifier, glad to have the amusing device back.

"Yep, he's a natural just like his father." Natsu glowed with pride as he spoke, showing off his own fire magic.

However no one was listening to him.

"I am so sorry for you, Lucy." Gray put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe we should have gotten her fire extinguisher instead of baby toys." Elfman added in.

"They'll be homeless in a matter of months if Natsu trains him." Wakaba joked next.

"I can hear you!" Natsu cried, pushing away all the negative people away from his family. "They'll all against me, I swear." he pouted, crossing his arms and glaring at his so-called friends that were saying such mean things about him.

Lucy saw his pout but could only laugh at the look on his face. "Relax, they'll only joking," she let her head rest on his shoulder and smiled up at him. "It's just their way of showing how happy they are for us."

Natsu smiled next, putting his one arm around her waist. "Yeah, you're right." he rested his chin on her head and with his free hand played a small game of tug of war with his son. Ryu grabbed his father's finger and tried to pull it to him, enjoying the game that was going on between him and his father.

"Awww! So cute!" The entire Guild cooed at the sight, little pink hearts in their eyes at the cute moment that they were witnessing.

"They're not going to stop, are they?" Lucy gave a weak laugh.

Natsu just shook his head. "Nope." not that he really minded. He liked that so many people were there to celebrate the birth of his son. It was all Fairy Tail had been doing for the past couple of weeks, they prepared the entire Guild to celebrate Ryu's birth while Lucy rested at home with her newborn.

"We can't help it," Mirajane came skipping over, a stuffed toy dragon in her hands. "We'll just so happy for you guys. You're new parents with a precious baby boy, we can't help but express ourselves!" she cooed, eyes shining when she saw Ryu take the dragon she had given him and placed it inside his mouth to suck on that instead of the pacifier.

"I see you've already taught your kid to love Dragons." Gray came over to stare down at the new Dragon Slayer.

Natsu just grinned, "Of course! After all his grandfather is an actual Dragon so why shouldn't he love them."

"That reminds me," Lucy looked up at Natsu with a sweet smile. "I wanted to ask you something important."

"Sure, what is it?" he asked, wondering what she wanted to ask him.

Lucy took a moment to answer, thinking over what she was going to say. "I was wondering if it would be ok to visit my parents?" she asked softly, noticing how their friends had moved away to give them room to talk. This was a touchy subject with Lucy so they knew she didn't everyone crowding her. "I had promised mama that if I ever had a family of my own I wanted to introduce them to her, so I was wondering if we could go and visit them?" she was a little unsure about his reply. Taking their new baby on a trip could be dangerous and Natsu was pretty protective of them both, so she wasn't sure what he would say.

"Well sure," she was surprised that he answered her so quick. A bright grin on his face as always as he spoke. "Why didn't you say so in first place? I'm sure your parents are just dying to meet Ryu."

"Not the best choice of words, Natsu." Gray reminded the fire mage that his wife's parents were both dead.

Natsu froze when he realized what he had just said. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I was just-!"

Lucy waved it off, not bothered by it. "It's fine. I'm just glad that you want to go." she was being honest. She was very happy that he wanted to go with her to visit her parents.

"Of course I want too. They're my family now too and it's my duty as a new family member to pay my respects to my in-laws!" he told her, patting Ryu on the head and smiled when the little baby reached for his hand to play some more. "See, even Ryu agrees."

Lucy looked at both boys in her life and smiled brightly at them. "I'm glad to hear it." she kissed them both on the cheek and laughed when she saw the same goofy grin appear on both their faces.

"Then we'll leave tomorrow!" he announced, throwing a fist in the air and was already planning their adventure in his head.

Lucy saw this look and smiled, "Tomorrow it is," brown eyes traveled down to stare at the young baby boy in her arms. The same color eyes as hers stared right back, looking very amused at the funny faces he saw his father making. _"Mama, Papa, soon you'll get to meet your first grandson." _she was so excited that she couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.

* * *

><p>On second thought Lucy was starting to wish that this day had never come at all. Right now she was sitting on the train with Natsu sitting right next to her, fighting to keep the food he had eaten earlier in his stomach and it looked like Ryu was having the same problem. The little baby in her arms kept whining and making a fuss no matter how hard she tried to calm him. <em>"Yet another trait he got from Natsu." <em>it was almost scary how much their son resembled his father.

There was another reason why she was not pleased with how this day was going.

"Man, you are such a loser."

"Lucy if you like I can knock Natsu out if that would help."

"I'm sorry, but my Troia won't work on two people at once."

Gray, Erza, and Wendy had all decided to join them on the trip to visit her parents graves and like every mission she had been on things were loud and annoying.

"Oh, shut up." Natsu groaned, trying to keep from vomiting all over the floor. He hated how he had to take the damn train, the trip wasn't that far but with the baby they couldn't risk it to walk so he had agreed to ride the train for his son's sake.

"Poor Ryu," Wendy looked sadly at the baby across from her and saw the upset look he was wearing. "It looks like he doesn't like transportation either."

"It seems he inherited more from his father then we thought." Charle said from her seat on Wendy's lap. She, Happy, and their son Lucky had also decided to join everyone on this trip.

"Yes, it seems so." Lucy shifted Ryu in her arms, trying to get him comfortable but so long as the train was moving the little baby in her arms wouldn't be happy.

"Poor guy," Natsu moved his head to rest on Lucy's shoulder. "I know how he feels. I ain't ever letting him ride anything unless absolutely necessary." he said, trying to sound serious but it wasn't having any real effect with his cheeks puffed out, trying to keep the vomit down.

Lucy looked at both the boys in her life and felt so bad for them. She wanted to do something that could help them. With a deep breath she started humming a soft tune, a sweet little lullaby that her mother had once sang to her whenever she was feeling ill. It had worked for her as a child and she hoped it would work for her son as well. Thankfully it did. Ryu listened to his mother's soft voice, calming his mind enough to forget the sick feeling he had and fell asleep soon after his mother had started to sing. Light snores could be heard from him just as loud snored could be heard from his father, who like his son, had fallen asleep soon after hearing Lucy sing.

"Looks like Lucy has the right touch." Gray said with a wide grin. He was proud of how mature she had become over the few months she had become a wife and mother. He was impressed with her process and had no doubts that she would make the best mother/wife for the ones she loved.

"Yes, it seems she does." Erza smiled softly, also impressed with her friend. She had adapted to her role as a new mother and wife very well and that had impressed the scarlet-haired woman very much. She had promised to help protect the new family but it seemed like they were doing just fine on their own.

"Mama Lucy is a nice mama!" Lucky exclaimed, flying up to his human mother and rested on her the top of her head to take a quick nap himself.

"Looks like everyone is in agreement." Gray said and the remaining members that were still awake all agreed with a hearty laugh. It had been a while since they just got to sit back and enjoy spending time together as a group of friends.

* * *

><p>"Mama, Papa, I have someone I want you to meet," Lucy had walked over to the two graves that held her parents and showed Ryu to both. "This is my son, his name is Ryu Satu Dragneel." she spoke softly, watching as her son stared with interest at the two graves. He wasn't making a fuss or crying or any of his usual antics when he's in a new place. It almost seemed like he knew who his mother was introducing him too, almost as if he knew these two deceased humans were his grandparents.<p>

"Yep, he's a proud member of Fairy Tail just like his parents," Natsu came to join her by the graves, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Sorry if I never got to meet either of you properly but I'm Natsu Dragneel. Lucy is my wife and Ryu is my son and I fire swear to both of you that I will always protect them and love them." he gave a brilliant grin to the two graves and for a moment as the wind blew by it sounded almost as if he received a reply back.

"I swear the same," Lucy announced, smiling proudly at her parent's graves. "I'm very happy right now, I have a family and friends that I love very much and I promise to keep them safe and happy to the best of my abilities." she made this vow on her parent's graves, she would never break this promise and she knew the same would be with Natsu. They would both love each other for eternity as well as love their children just the same. "Bye Mama, Papa, I'll see you both soon." she waved goodbye to her deceased parents and walked away with her son and husband. Natsu putting an arm around her waist and Ryu snuggling closer to her chest, both boys seemed to know she was sadden by visiting her deceased parents and both were trying to cheer her up. _"They really are so much alike." _she looked from her son to her husband and back at the road in front of her. Ryu was so much like Natsu, she really had given birth to his mini version and secretly she was glad for that. If he really was just like his father then it just meant that Lucy had nothing to worry about. He would have a bright and wonderful future, one filled with smiles, happy memories, and so much more.

"This was nice," Natsu pulled her closer, a wide grin on his face as they walked back to their friends. "I finally got to meet your parents." he held a childlike smile on his face, making her giggle.

"I think you and my parents would have gotten along very well." she leaned her head on his shoulder, remembering the few happy moments that she had experienced when her mother was still alive and her father who was a very kind man that during the time with his wife. Back then he was a man that cared more for his family than his work.

"I'm sure I would have," he kissed the side of her head, nuzzling his nose into her hair. "I know you're worried about us but don't worry, Luce. Our children's lives will be different from both of ours." his words surprised her. She had been thinking a lot about of how she had grown up and there was a slight fear in her that her son would grow up the way she had. Of course she knew Natsu was nothing like her father but at one point her father had been a smiling man before he turned into a business tycoon.

_"I have faith in Natsu. He is someone I know that will never change." _She knew deep down that her fears were strange but she didn't need to worry. Natsu had matured as he became a father and a husband but he was still the same carefree, loving, goofy, and special guy that made everything in life seem so much brighter.

"I know you're worried, I am too," he stopped them from walking, putting his free hand on his son's head and gave the largest grin anyone has ever seen on his face. "I want to do whatever I can for our family so don't worry. I'm not gonna let anything happen!" his smile told her that his words were true. He would keep their family happy, forever.

"And when he screws up we'll be there to help you out." the couple turned around to see a smirking Gray coming up to them with Erza, Wendy, Happy, Charle, and Lucky following close behind.

"Stupid popsicle." Natsu grumbled, glaring in annoyance at the ice mage that just ruined a good moment.

"What Gray means to say is that we are here to help whenever you guys need it." Erza added, sending a quick glare towards the dark-haired boy, saying she did not approve of his words from earlier.

"Well isn't this a sappy moment." they all turned around to find Gajeel and Pantherlily coming towards them. "I finally finish my damn mission and now I'm being forced to watch some stupid lovey-dovey moment." he scoffed, one hand clenching his bag over his shoulder and the other shoved into his pants pocket.

"So this is where you disappeared to?" Gray commented on the iron man's whereabouts. He had been missing for a few weeks and no one really knew where he had disappeared too.

Gajeel just shrugged, "I'm not really into the whole family special moments so I left long enough for all the celebration to calm down." he grumbled, looking away from Lucy and her new baby.

Erza grinned, "It sounds almost as if you are embarrassed." she sent him an amused look and they all nearly lost it when his eyes grew wide with a flabbergasted look on his face.

"Why the hell would I be embarrassed?" He cried loudly, cheeks turning a light shade of pink and another scoff escaped his mouth. "I don't give a damn about the kid so why should I care what happens?"

"You may not care but we do." The group of friends turned quickly around to find two strange men in black cloaks standing a few feet away from them, a strange look in their eyes. "We want the child so if you could please hand him over it would make our lives a lot easier." they each held out their hands for Ryu to handed over to them, acting as if the request the ordered was a normal one. The two men before them wore cloaks to conceal themselves but they could still make out that the men were twins, each once with dark black hair. They looked so similar it was scary, the only real difference between them was the one had brown eyes and the other had blue eyes.

Lucy gasped, clenching her son closer to her chest and backing away from the men. They wanted her child but she would not let them take him. "What the hell did you say?" Natsu had jumped in front of his family, a deep growl escaping him as he glared at his enemies. "How dare you come here and threaten my family!" his body burned bright, igniting for the anger that he felt from those who dared to try and harm his family.

"You certainly have some nerve." Gray had his hands ready to send every ice attack he had master to go flying at the creepy men in front of the.

"I agree," Erza had already transformed into her Heaven's Wheel Armor, swords ready for battle. "If you think for even a second we'll give you Ryu you are horribly mistaken." her glare was deadly enough to freeze an entire army in fear but these men did not budge.

"We want the child and you will not stop us." They both spoke at once, hands still outstretched and waiting for the baby boy to be handed to them.

"No way in hell." Lucy glared at the men that wanted her son. Loke's key was already gripped in one hand and ready to summon every spirit she had to keep her son safe.

"So there were two leftovers?" Gajeel stepped forward, cracking the bones in his hands and neck.

"What do you mean by leftovers?" Erza questioned, wanting to exactly who and what they were dealing with.

"My mission was to destroy a certain merchants Guild that sells illegal items. They were pretty known for stealing anything that they deemed worth a pricy amount and it appears they've set their eyes on your brat." Gajeel explained, standing in front of the group and watched the two men ahead of him, waiting to see what their next move would be.

"But why would they want Ryu? He's just a baby." Lucy couldn't even begin to imagine what can of twisted place this was if they wanted to steal her child.

"Your kid became pretty famous in the world of magic. He's only a few weeks old and yet already he's showing signs of great magical power," Gajeel looked back at her, blood red eyes looking over the blonde that had gone into protective mother mode almost instantly. "Many dark Guilds and merchants want his power for themselves and what better time to take it then when he's still a helpless little baby."

"So the mission you went on was to destroy this place that set their sight on Ryu?" Gray questioned, never breaking eye contact with the weird men that suddenly appeared.

"The old man wanted me to take this request before any of you found out but looks like that part of the deal is done." Gajeel transformed his arm into an iron bar, ready to start fighting once more.

"Who cares," Natsu growled, body burning bright from the anger he felt towards his enemies. "These guys are threatening my son and my family. There's no way in hell I'll let them get away with this!" his flames burned the all around, making the air around him become heavy as the heat reached them. The enemy angered a fire Dragon and now they were feeling his wrath.

"Lucy, I think it would be best if you took Ryu and escaped. We don't know what kind of magic they use and it's too dangerous to fight with the baby around." Erza told her friend, her swords all pointed towards their enemy to keep them from even trying to get close to the young boy.

Lucy nodded, "You're right," she knew that neither she nor Natsu or any of them could fight properly with Ryu around. They would be to worried about not only keeping them safe but also keeping their attacks from accidentally hitting them.

"Lucy, we should hurry." Wendy grabbed her hand and lead her away from the group. She along with the Exceeds would remain with her and her son to act as backup in case the enemy somehow managed to follow after them.

"Resisting in futile," They both spoke at once, their eyes following the retreating figure of Lucy as she ran with her son. "We will have the child."

Natsu roared, "The hell you will!" he jumped into action, hands burning bright as he charged at the two men that dared to say they would steal away his son. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" his attacked exploded once it made contact, making the heavy become heavy from the sudden heat but none of his friends cared, they were used to it and they would rather be hot then allow one of their own to be taken away from them. "Got ya." he grinned, proud of himself from stopping those men.

Sadly that proud feeling didn't last long. Only one of the men was seen as the smoke cleared, his arm glowing a bright orange as he blocked the attack. "I told you it was futile to try and stop us." he spoke in his monotone voice and Natsu gasped when he caught the other man's scent.

"Lucy!" He yelled to his wife, trying to warn her of the danger that was coming. His eyes widen in fear and shock when he saw the other man was chasing after them and was catching up. He tried to run after to help his family but he was held back by the man he attacked.

"You cannot win. We were made to succeed and only death will stop us." he spoke softly, firing a yellow beam from his hands but Natsu jumped away just in time before it could hit him.

"Just who the hell are you?" The fire Dragon Slayer growled, he was annoyed and angry at these men for what they were trying to do. "Why do you want my son?"

"My name is Jiro and my brother's name is Shino. Our goal is simple, to obtain the newborn Ryu Dragneel and take his back to our headquarters so that those who wish to posses his power may get what they want." he said, preparing another attack. His blue eyes seemed to glow as his attack was readied but before he could fire he had to jump away when ice was thrown at him.

"Natsu, leave this guy to us" Gray cried, running towards Jiro as more of his ice was made to attack.

Erza came next, two swords in her hands as she attacked, making Jiro step back to avoid being hit. "We can handle this man. You need to go and help Lucy!"

Natsu nodded, putting out him flames. "Right, thanks guys!" he sent them a quick grin before taking off after his wife and son and the man that was chasing them.

They watched their friend go for a moment before turning their attention back to Jiro. "Now then," Erza pointed her sword at him, summoning enough weapons that could take out an entire army. "Your fight is with us. However I believe it is only fair to warn you that if any harm should come to Ryu or his parents I personally will make sure that you suffer." her threats seemed to reach Jiro, a look of fear was shining bright in his eyes and her threat even reached her friends who were standing behind her and trying not to shake.

"She's insane." Gajeel muttered under his breath, trying to calm his body down.

"Erza is still the same as always." Gray tried to make a joke to lighten the mood but he was still shaking in fear at the woman's words.

"Intense." Even Pantherlily was shaking at her words.

"Anyway I will agree with her on that," Gray turned the ground around him to ice and glared. "If these guys want to even dream about putting their hands on our friends then they better be ready for the full force of Fairy Tail."

Gajeel chuckled, a wide grin spread out on his face. "I like the way you think." he was ready to go all out on this guy.

"Let's go!" Erza cried and they attacked.

* * *

><p>Lucy gasped for air as her lungs burned. After nine months of not doing anything her body was suffering at the sudden activity and it was beginning to affect her. She was running at full speed and her body was screaming at her to slow it down, but she couldn't. If she even slowed her pace down a little then that man would take her son and she wouldn't allow that to happen. So despite her aching body she kept her pace and ran. Ryu was in her arms, making a fuss at the sudden turn of events and she tried her best to calm him but that wasn't easy when running at full speed to escape the bad guy.<p>

"It doesn't matter how far you run," they heard the man behind them call out and the girls released a scream of shock when the ground in front of them sudden disappeared. "You will not escape us. We will achieve our goal."

Lucy growled, holding tight to her son. "There's no way I'll let you take my son. You'll have to kill me first!" she cried, holding the golden key in her hand and let her magic flow. "Open, Gate of The Lion, Loke!" she summoned her most powerful and loyal spirit to come and defend her. After months of not using her magic it felt great to see her old friends again.

"It's been a while Lucy," Loke grinned, fixing his glasses and sent her a pleased looked. "Although I would have liked it better if you summoned me on better terms."

"You and me both," Lucy held his key close, pouring as much of her magic into it to give him power. "Please Loke, you need to stop him." she refused to let these men take away her child and she would do everything in her power to stop them.

"On it," Loke nodded, hands glowing gold as he jumped to attack. "Regulus Punch!" he went in to strike but at the last moment his enemy jumped into the air and landed away from the blast. "You're fast but let's see how long you can keep this up?" Loke grinned, his hands still glowing as he readied himself for the next attack.

"You are indeed strong," Shino straightened himself out and frowned. "Though I am not surprised. The child's parents must be strong for him to have a great magical power as well."

"And that's why you want to take my son away? Because of his magic?" Lucy glared, angered by what she was hearing.

Shino shook his head. "It is neither I nor my brother who want your son's power but the ones who sent us the request. Our Guild has been asked to acquire the infant Ryu Dragneel and once we have him we will take him back to our base and from their he will be sold to the highest bidder."

Lucy felt her anger increase. "How dare you! My son is not some object to be sold and purchased. He is a living being and if you even dare to put your hands on him I'm going to make you regret ever being born!" she pulled out another key and let her magic flow through her body once more. "I open thee, Gate of The Maiden, Virgo!"

"Princess, do you wish to punish me?" Virgo appeared, asking the same question she always asks.

"No!" Lucy cried, wishing she wouldn't ask such things.

"Lucy..." Loke gasped in wondered as he stared at the blonde. "You summoned two spirits at once." he couldn't believe his eyes. He knew that she had great magic and that she could summon more than one spirit after another but she never could summon them at the same time.

Lucy only grinned, "I am a mother Loke and like any parent I will do anything to keep my family safe."  
>Wendy stared on in wonder at the blonde. "Lucy is amazing." she whispered out softly, in awe at how far the young mother was willing to go for her son.<p>

"She sure has grown." Charle agreed with her. She was just as equally amazed as Wendy was.

"Aye sirs!" Happy and Lucky both cheered on, flying next to her. Lucky flew on top of her head while Happy stayed afloat, a determined look on his face. "Don't worry Lucy, we will help you."

Wendy nodded, the wind around her suddenly picking. "I will do my best not to fail you."

Shino only sighed. "You are all an annoyance." he glared at them, slightly annoyed at how they kept delaying him and his brother from their plans. "You should know that you cannot win and you should just give up." he added.

"Sorry but as Fairy Tail wizards we don't know the meaning of give up!" Lucy cried ahead at the man in front of her, she would not let him intimidate nor threaten her. Ryu was with her. He was no longer crying but instead throwing his hands up in the air, as if he was trying to show that he would fight too. "That's my boy." Lucy hugged him, praising him for his bravery.

"He really is Natsu's son," Loke commented before jumping in to attack once more. "That just means I can't lie about. I won't be outdone again!" his hands glowed bright with power and he was directly above Shino. "Lion Brilliance!" his body shot out a bright light, making the whole area around him lit up and making Shino cover his eyes before he lost his sight.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!" Wendy shot out giant whirlwinds from her arms and landed a direct hit on Shino, making him cry out and get thrown back.  
>"Spica Lock." Virgo came next and used her magic to trap Shino within rocks, crushing him slowly.<p>

"Regulus Impact!" Loke charged once more, this time his attack hit his enemy directly. A large lion appeared from his right hand and it made impact with the rocks that held Shino, doing serious damaged to the man trapped inside.

Shino was thrown to the ground violently when the attack finally touched him. He was lying face down on the hard ground, gasping for air while coughing up some blood. His body was covered in cuts and wounds and it didn't look like he would be getting up anytime soon.

"We did it!" Happy cheered, flying all around in glee.

"We won." Wendy hugged Charle to her and cheered along with the rest of her friends.

"I'm so glad." Lucy gave a sigh of relief and looked down at her son. He was staring up at his mother and he started to smile and giggle in joy when he saw the happy look on her face. Her being happy made him happy as well. "My little boy, I'm so glad that your safe." she whispered softly into his soft patch of hair and kissed his forehead. She was truly grateful to her friends for helping her keep her son safe.

"Y-You people...!" the happy moment didn't last long when they saw Shino slowly start to stand back. Blood was leaking out of his wounds, his body shaking from the pain that he felt but he ignored it all. "All of you..." his body started to glow and he showed them his eyes, a look of pure hatred in his eyes. "I will make you all suffer!" he was angered by what they had done and he would make them pay. Quickly he sent blast after blast at those who attacked him and watched in joy as they were sent flying backwards and made an open path between him and his prize. "I will not lose!" he charged, arm stretched out to take Ryu from his mother and complete his mission.

Lucy gasped when she saw all her friends go down and fear shot through her when she saw how fats Shino was coming up. There was no time left to summon another spirit, not that she had enough magic to summon on. All she could do was hold tight to her son. "Ryu it's our time to shine now!" Lucky suddenly jumped down from Lucy's head and flew in front of Ryu, flapping his wings quickly in front of the little baby before flying back up to safety to watch and wait for the magic to happen. Ryu scrunched up his nose and like before in the Guild released a giant ball of fire out of his mouth. " Fire Dragon's Roaring Sneeze!" Lucky cried out the attack for the little baby that could not yet talk yet. The attack hit its target, catching Shino on fire and burned him to a crisps, making him fall to the ground in a defeated slump.

It was a silent for a moment as everyone took in what just happened. They couldn't believe that a newborn just defeated the same enemy that they were having such a hard time fighting.

"This is so not fair." Loke sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"The young master is very talented." Virgo commented, not at all bothered by what just happened.

"Ryu really is very powerful." Wendy was just amazed at how much power was in one little body.

"He really is a second Natsu." Happy said weakly. He wasn't sure the Guild could survive two fire breathing maniacs.

"We may need to worry." Charle didn't need to see the future to know that this baby boy would cause just as much destruction as his father.

"Ryu is so cool!" Lucky only laughed happily. "I can't wait to grow up and start going on missions with him." he flew down to his partner and laughed at the two played together.

Lucy just stared in shock at her son. She couldn't believe such power had come from him. He was so young and yet he was already so powerful. _"Looks like I really have nothing to worry about." _she smiled softly, bringing her son in for a tight hug. "My big boy! I'm so proud of you!" she all but squealed, rubbing her nose against his and started to speak like a baby. "Oh, who is such a good fighter? You are! Yes you are! You are mama's brave little boy!" she cooed and Ryu laughed wildly, enjoying the attention he was getting.

"Lucy!" they all turned their attention to the distance to see a giant fire ball heading their way. Natsu was coming up fast, body burning to pick up speed and get to his family. "I'm coming!" he cried, jumping into the air and landed directly in front of his wife and child, making the ground beneath him crack under the pressure. Had he been paying attention he would have heard the loud cry of pain that was heard when he landed. "Are you ok? Where is that guy? Did he hurt you or Ryu? What happened here? Where is that bastard so I can kill him!" he all but growled, turning his head in every direction to look for the man that dared to threaten his family.

"Um...?" Lucy gave a weak laugh before pointing downwards. "You're stepping on him." she pointed to the fallen form of Shino that now had a new bruise to his already tattered body.

Natsu looked down and saw the unconscious man, eyes blinking in confusion. "Who did this?" he saw the burn marks and could smelt the scent of burnt hair, flesh, and clothes. In fact it looked like damage that he usually does when he fights his enemies.

Lucy let out a bright grin. "Ryu did." she happily announced. "With help from Lucky he released a giant ball of fire and defeated the enemy." she brought her son back in for another hug. "I'm so proud of him. Our son's first bad guy defeat!"

"Ryu did this?" Natsu gasped for a moment in wonder before a wide grin spread out across his face. "That's my boy!" he wrapped once arm around Lucy and pulled his family into a quick embrace, his other hand happily patting his son's head. "I told you. He's a natural just like his father!" he said proudly, truly excited for his son's first victory.

Lucy nodded, she was just as happy as he was. "He really is." she was so happy with this moment and she really wished that she had a camera with her right now.

"Princess," Virgo suddenly appeared in front of her with a camera in hand. "Please smile." she said quickly before snapping the shot of the happy family standing over the fallen charred form of Shino.

"Where did you get that camera?" Wendy asked, not really sure where the device came from.

"The Spirit King asked me to take some photos of the young master." Virgo replied.

"So you've had that on you this whole time?" Loke asked. He was just as confused as the others.

"Yes," Virgo nodded before taking out more photos. "I have been secretly taking photos of the young master since Princess conceived him. I have albums as well." she pulled out four giant photo albums, all full of Lucy when she was pregnant to the day Ryu was born and the days after.

"Virgo...?" Loke felt like his head was spinning. "Just when did you take all of these?" he and the rest of Lucy's spirit had been in the spirit world. They came out a few times after Ryu was born to greet the boy but that was the only other time they had come out.

Virgo gave him a serious look before a giant cloud surrounded her and she reappeared out of it in ninja clothing. "Ninja!" she did the hand signs.

"That doesn't answer my question!" Loke cried, his head was spinning from all of this. "And since when did you become a spirit ninja?"

"Then I shall go back to my old form." Virgo transformed back into her maid outfit.

"That's not what I meant!" Loke cried again. Suddenly he felt very tired and wanted nothing more than to go back home and get some rest. "Hey Lucy if it's fine with you I think Virgo and I will go back now." he really needed rest and he needed to talk to his fellow spirit about her sudden weird behavior. Besides that he also knew that summoning two spirits at once was probably draining Lucy of her magic and she needed to rest, so with a quick wave the two spirits went back to their world to report back the day's events.

"Well it looks like you guys are doing good." Just as the two spirits disappeared, the rest of their friends came walking up towards them with a tied up Jiro being dragged behind them. "Looks like Natsu made it in time after all." Gray smirked, he was glad to see that everything turned out alright.

"Nope," Natsu shook his head but was still smiling wildly. "I didn't do anything. All of this was Ryu." he said proudly, wanting to shout out in the open sky at how proud he was of his son.

"Ryu did?" Erza, who was back in original armor, almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. Ryu had defeated the enemy and at such a young age. "Well I guess we shouldn't be surprised. After all he is a part of Fairy Tail and with who his parents are it really isn't a surprise to hear that he had his first victory at such a young age." she gave a proud smile herself. She was impressed with the infant and already she was making plans on how she would train the young boy when the time came.

Gajeel whistled in wonder. "No wonder these guys wanted your kid's power." he said, tossing Jiro on top of his bother and grinned. "He'll being out doing all of us if we don't watch it." he seemed almost excite at that thought. He probably was thinking about a good fight that he would have with the young boy.

"Wipe that look off your face, Gajeel." Lucy saw right through his expression and glared. "I don't care what you say, you're not fighting my son unless I say so." she would not have her little boy going into dangerous fights unless she authorized them.

Gajeel scoffed, "Whatever Bunny-Girl." he crossed his arms and looked away. He wouldn't admit it but he was a little disappointed that she saw right through him and rejected his plans.

Natsu let out a deep laugh when he witnessed his wife shoot down the iron man's ideas. "Don't worry Gajeel I'm sure once Ryu is older Luce will let you fight him, but not before I do." he was already excited to train and spar with his son. He couldn't wait for the two of them to just go all out and fight like he used to do with Igneel.

Lucy frowned and sent a mock glare up at her husband. "You even think of touching my son and I won't hesitate to leave you." she told him calmly, turning her head away so he couldn't see the smile on her face. As if she would ever leave him.

Natsu however didn't realize her joke and freaked out. "What! You can't do that! We're mates for life. We're supposed to spend the rest of our lives together. Lucy can't leave me!" he grabbed his hair, ripping his short pink locks out as he was slowly losing his mind over the thought of Lucy actually leaving him.

Only when he heard a soft giggle coming from her did he finally stop. "Stupid, as if I would ever leave you." she sent him a playful wink and kissed his cheek.

Natsu didn't find her joke as funny as their friends did, while they laughed he pouted and crossed his arms. "That wasn't funny," he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. "Don't ever make a joke like that ever again." he mumbled into her hair, trying to calm down his beating heart.

"But it was just so much fun." Lucy laughed lightly but stopped when she heard a growl coming from him. "Alright, I promise never to do it ever again." she winked at her friends, silently saying she would totally do it again because the results were just too funny.

"Looks like Lucy has Natsu wrapped around her finger." Gray snorted, amazed that such a destructive guy that laughs in the face of death can get so scared at the thought of his wife leaving.

"Bunny-Girl knows what makes his tick. I doubt flame brain is the one that wears the pants in this relationship." Gajeel grinned in amusement. So far this day was turning out they way he liked.

Erza agreed with her friends. "As much fun as this is we should probably get going." they still needed to drop the two brothers off so they could be punished for their crimes. She also wanted to have a talk with their master about this matter and try to come up with a way to make sure that this never happens again.

"You fools," the fun stopped when they saw Jiro sit up, despite his restraints he was moving easily and grinning like a madman. "It's not over yet." in his hands he held two rings, one black and the other blue.

Erza saw the rings and realized what they were. "Stop him"! she cried but it was too late. The rings came together, causing a giant whirlwind to form all around them. "It's air magic, he's going to transfer us to a different location." she called out to her friends, trying to get them ready for what was to come.

"Wendy, can you do something about these winds?" Gray called out to the young girl, creating a giant block of ice around his feet and hand so he could keep his grip and not flying. In his other arm he had Happy and Lucky clinging to him.

Wendy cried out in fear when she felt the winds pulling her but Gajeel caught her just before she went flying. She held Charle close to her and held tight. "I can't. I'm not to winds this strong!"

"This wind is not normal, I doubt she could stop it even if she was used to it." Pantherlily exclaimed, transforming into his original form, slamming his sword into the ground to keep his balance.

"Jiro!" Natsu cried out to the man that was in the middle of this giant storm and laughing like mad. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled, trying to get the man's attention but it was no use, his words fell on deaf ears. "Damn it." he growled when he saw that he could do nothing, all he could do was hold tight to his wife and son during this storm.

The winds picked up and despite their best efforts they were lifted off the ground and went flying in the currents. Their body being twisted and thrown as they tried their best to keep hold of each other. "We need to grab on to one another or else we'll be sent flying in different directions!" Wendy cried out, feeling what the winds were planning and warned her friends.

"You heard her! Everyone grab on to each other!" Erza yelled at her friends, telling them all what they needed to do.

"Ice-Make: Grappling Hook!" Gray fired his ice over towards Wendy and Gajeel, making sure the grappling hook was small enough to be caught and not injury his friends. Wendy caught the hook with ease and wrapped the ice chain around her arm.

"You better not burn me you flaming moron!" Gajeel yelled out at Natsu when he saw the fire forming around his arm.

"Quit whining you big baby." Natsu scoffed, sending out a giant fire claw and attached it to Gajeel's leg, making sure that the flames didn't touch his skin.

"Erza!" Lucy gasped when she saw her friend trying to make her way towards them but the winds kept pushing her back. "Natsu, I'm trusting you with our son." she gave him Ryu and pushed away and sent herself flying in Erza's direction.

"Lucy!" Natsu gasped at what she was doing and hide to try and control himself. He was worried for her and wanted to help but he couldn't just leave his son.

"Erza, grab my hand!" Lucy extended her hand out to her friend, reaching as far as it could go so she could reach her friend.

"Lucy," for a moment Erza was stunned by her friend's bravely but she didn't stay stunned long. She reached her own hand out and grinned when the two grabbed hold of each other. "Now what? My weapons won't be able to reach them without causing some form of damage." she explained. All her weapons were made for combat and if she fired even one it could hurt her friends.

Lucy however only grinned. "Don't worry, I've got it." she had her Fleuve d'étoiles in her hand and let the blue magic whip come out. With a quick flap of her wrist she extended her whip and wrapped it around Natsu's waist, successfully bringing everybody together.

"Good job Lucy," Erza complemented her good friend before turning serious. "Now everyone hang on tight. I doubt this will end well but no matter what happens do not let go!" her words reached her friends and they did what she said. Each one held tight to each other and the things that bound them together. No matter what happened they would not let go. Even as the winds became violent and the force was painful they did not let go. Only when they were back on the ground would they release their iron grip on each other but until then they would hold tight.

Thankfully their time in the whirlwind didn't last long. The winds slowed down before coming to a complete halt and everyone inside fell down to the hard ground. Natsu made sure that his landing didn't end badly, he used his fire to slow down the fall and was lucky to land on his feet while the rest of his friends fell face first and groaned in pain. "Is everyone ok?" Erza asked, recovering quickly and stood back up on her feet.

"I think so." Wendy replied, one hand holding her head that felt like it was still inside the wind spinning.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Happy held his two paws in front of his mouth, his blue face suddenly turning green.

"Aye." Lucky was right there with his father, feeling just as sick.

"Well don't do it on me!" Gray cried, trying to get the two Exceeds away from him before he had cat vomit all over.

"Looks like everyone survived." Gajeel stood up easily, shaking his head to clear his thoughts and looked around at their new destination. They were standing on top of a mountain, surrounded by fog and some grass. They were close to the edge and when he looked down he saw how far up they really were. "Shit, we're gonna have a hell of a time getting down." he grumbled. Even with the Exceeds to fly them down it would be hard with the wind currents and how far the trip was.

"It would seem we will need to be careful when going down." Pantherlily said to his partner. He knew that even in his true form he would have trouble fighting against the winds that surrounded them. They would need to think up a way that could get them all down safely or else it would end badly for them all.

"Wahhh!" Their thoughts were cut short when Ryu let out a loud cry. The last few events scared him and now he wanted the comfort of his parents to make him feel better. He started shooting out small flames from his mouth as he cried. Small tears fell from his eyes and his hands formed tight fists, he was displaying his fright with his wails. His cries were very high, almost like a little roar and it was causing everyone's ears to hurt.

"Ryu!" Lucy shot up to her feet and ran to her son. She wasn't as bothered by his cries as the others. She quickly took him from Natsu and held him close in her arms, trying to calm to crying baby down. "It's alright. Mama's here now. There's no more reason to cry anymore." she whispered softly to him, kissing his forehead and started to hum like she did before on the train. She wasn't bothered by the loud cries or the small fire balls that were coming from him. Her son was upset and her motherly instincts took her, screaming at her to help her upset son. Soon enough the cries stopped and soft little hiccups were all that was heard from the little baby boy that looked up at his mother with wide glossy eyes, some tears still lingering in his eyes. "There now, isn't that better." she nuzzled her cheek against his and was glad that now she was hearing laughter instead of crying from her son.

"Lucy, that was amazing." Natsu was impressed with his wife. He didn't have a clue on what to do for his crying son. In fact he was panicking when he heard how hard his son was crying but Lucy seemed to know exactly what to do.

"Well isn't that sweet," the touching moment between the family was ruined when Jiro staggered over towards them, holding his brother up with one hand. "But I won't let you get away with what you've done to my brother." he barked, eyes glaring daggers at all.

Natsu stepped in front of his family and glared right back. "And I won't let you get away with threatening my family." his arms were lit with the flames of his power.

Jiro wasn't impressed and only continued to glare. "I will make you all suffer!" his hands glowed green before he slammed his fist down on the ground, making it shake violently.

"He's using earth magic now! He's making an earthquake happen on the mountain." Erza exclaimed, understand what was happening around them.

"Stop this," Gray called, creating an ice shield all around them as some rocks started to fall. "If you keep this up the whole mountain will collapse."

"I don't care!" Jiro cried, eyes wide and insanity shining bright in them. "I just want you all dead!" he slammed his fist down once again and made another tremor happen.

The earth shook even worse than before, causing all to scream as the earth beneath them rumbled and made them feel helpless. Cracks were starting to form all around and more rocks were starting to fall. Gray and Gajeel did what they could to keep the rocks from reaching them but they were falling down to fast. The cracks that were forming underneath them didn't help either but made their situation even worse. "Natsu!" a giant crack formed under Lucy and Ryu and the ground beneath her gave out, causing her and her son to fall off the mountain. Her cries were heard by all but they could do nothing, all they could do was watch her fall, arm stretched out in an attempt to reach for help. Natsu seeing this reached his own hand out to catch her but it was futile. All he grabbed was wind as his eyes watched as his wife and son fell down the mountain's edge, leaving him only to stare at their fallen forms.

It felt like all life had been sucked out of him. His body was froze stiff and his heart seemed to stop, he was sure that he was dead but dead people don't have images in their heads. All he could see was Lucy and Ryu falling over and over and over again. His breathing turned swallow and he had to gasp for air. The flames that surrounded him dimmed down to almost nothing before exploding into a rage of fury. "Jiro!" he eyes no longer resembled those of a human. His Dragon nature was released and hell would come to the one that did him wrong. He saw nothing, only his wife and son falling down to their certain death. He would kill this man that took away his family.

His plan to do away with Jiro and his brother came to a halt when a fierce roar was heard. They all froze when this sound reached them and a familiar began to swell up inside them, this feeling was even stronger in the three Dragon Slayer. Before anyone could even blink a giant red form flew above them, blocking the sun's rays and allowed all to see its form. "Igneel..." Natsu couldn't believe his eyes. After so long, after all the years of waiting and wishing he was finally seeing his father again. "Igneel!" tears of joy formed in his eyes at the sight and his body began to shake with excitement and glee.

"I don't believe it." Gray was just as shocked as him.

"It's really him." Erza didn't know what to do with herself right now.

"Natsu's Dragon." Wendy was in awe at what she was seeing.

"He's here." Gajeel was in the same state as the young wind user.

"I-I-It's a-a...Dragon!" Jiro fell down in fear, body shaking as the large creature flew down and landed directly in front of him.

"Stupid fool. You have got some nerve for challenging my son and trying to take away his family," Igneel released a low growl, but even that made the earth shake. "For you sins you shall feel my wrath!" He cried into the sky, ready to give this man and his brother punishment. However Jiro passed out before any of that could happen. "Weakling." Igneel snorted, obvious annoyed with the sudden turn of events.

"Igneel!" Natsu ran to his foster father, pure excitement written all over his face. "What are you doing here? What happened to you all those years ago? Why'd you leave me? What about the other Dragons? Are they here as well? What the hell is going on!" he gasped out, trying to get some air back into his lungs.

"I see even after becoming a father you're still the same as ever." Igneel gave an amused chuckle. He was truly glad to see his son after all this time. "Now then, to answer your question I came here to return something to you that I believe you'll want back in your life." he moved his wing down enough to show Lucy and Ryu sitting on his back, Lucy holding onto one of his horns for dear life.

"Lucy!" Natsu jumped for joy. His feet lit on fire as he jumped into the air and landed on the great Dragon's back, grabbing his wife and son so they could climb off and so he could envelope them in a giant hug. "You're both alright." he was so grateful to have them back with him.

"It's Lucy and Ryu, they're both alright!" Happy cheered with joy when he saw his friends were safe again.

"But how?" Gray was still shocked, his mind felt like it was about to shut down. "We all saw you fall?"

Lucy looked over at her friends, a pleased smile on her face. "I'm not really sure myself. One moment we were falling and the next thing I know I'm riding on the back of a giant Dragon." her heart was still pounding and she knew once she got home she was giving Ryu to Natsu and she would go to sleep and not wake up until it was morning.

"I only came because I heard this little one calling." Igneel motioned towards the soft bundle in Lucy's arms that was staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Ryu called you?" Lucy was confused. Her son was only a few weeks only, he wasn't at the stage yet where he could talk.

Igneel nodded, "His cry called out to us and when we understood what it meant we flew to your location."

"We?" Wendy couldn't stop the hope that was blooming wildly in her chest when she heard those words.

"Hello Wendy."

"So you're still alive squirt."

Both Wendy and Gajeel gasped at these familiar but deeply missed voices. Their eyes zoned in on the great creatures that until now they had only seen in their dreams.

"Grandeeney!" Wendy cried, running to her foster mother, arms outstretched to hold the dearly missed Dragon in a hug.

"I missed as well, my child." Grandeeney spoke in a soft tone, one large claw coming to return the hug.

"About time you showed yourself, you stupid metal lizard." Gajeel grinned like mad, pure excitement and joy shinned like stars in his eyes.

Metalicana merely scoffed. "Still acting all high and mighty." the two iron users seemed to glare at each other for a moment before butting heads and grinning like wild men.

"So the Dragons all came because you heard Ryu?" Gray questioned. He had gotten used to this situation and now felt like he could actually form sentences.

"That we did," Igneel replied, lowering his head to stare directly into his foster son's eyes. "We also wanted to come and congratulate you on bringing such a wonderful child into the world."

Natsu felt a proud grin overtake his face. He was truly happy to have such praise coming from his father. He smiled again as he wrapped his arm around Lucy and introduced his family to his father. "Igneel, I'd like you meet Lucy Dragneel my wife and Ryu Dragneel my son." he then ruffled his son's hair and pointed up, wanting his son to see the great creature that he loved so much. "Ryu I'd like you to meet your grandfather" as he said those words he smiled when he saw the smile that was on his son's face as he reached out towards the Dragon, wanting to be just as close to him as his father.

"It's very nice to meet you. I've heard so many great things about you." Lucy gave the great beast a respectable bow and a gentle smile.

Igneel observed her for a moment before snorting. "She's too good for you. How you manage to get her to agree to be your mate is beyond me." he said in a mocking tone that could easily be seen as teasing.

"We wonder the exact same thing." Gray called out, adding in his own thoughts.

"Shut up, both of you!" Natsu growled at those who were making fun of him.

Igneel only snorted again. "So how did you get her to agree to be your mate? You don't know the first thing about romance."

"He kidnapped her." Happy answered, telling him the truth because he knew that Natsu wouldn't.

"Dragon's Eye?" Igneel asked.

Happy nodded. "Dragon's Eye."

"Stupid fool. You really haven't changed." Igneel laughed at his foster son that was now glaring at his so-called best friend and partner. "But then again life would boring if you weren't who you are." he said softly, showing a caring look one would not expect to see on a Dragon.

Natsu returned the look and leaned forward, wrapping himself around the great creature to hug. "It's good to see you again, Igneel."

"It's good to see you again as well, Natsu." Igneel nuzzled against his son, truly glad to be reunited with his loved one. "Now hop on. It's time for you all to return home."

So the three Dragons took them home. They rode their backs down the mountain, each one of them wearing smiles and exclaim in joy at the wonderful moment they were experiencing. This truly was the perfect way to end the day. Ryu had met both sides of his family, his mother's parents and he and his father finally got to meet the great Dragon that was so special in all of their hearts.

**END**


End file.
